Around this time of year when, under normal circumstances, the Gentse Feesten are being built, it is always an adjustment for the tram users. But even outside the Gentse Feesten period, it remains dramatic for the tram driver in terms of speed. Anyone who regularly visits Ghent has probably seen it. For cyclists, the tram is often an obstacle that people want to pass as quickly as possible.

A tram that travels so slowly that cyclists overtake it. It is a frustrating, but unfortunately familiar feeling for tram travelers in Ghent. An average speed of 10 or 11 kilometers per hour on certain routes is no exception in Ghent and De Lijn wants to do something about it. This spring, De Lijn started to equip ten trams of lines 2 and 4 with Dutch 'KAR technology'. By using this radio technology, the hope is that people in Ghent can gain some speed by automatically turning traffic lights in front of the tram to green when the tram arrives. 

CART stands for short-range radio and influences traffic lights with a radio signal. KAR can be considered a wireless variant of VETAG/VECOM, systems that influence traffic lights using detection loops in the road. An important advantage over these systems is the absence of the often expensive detection loops, which are expensive to replace and modify. This makes it relatively easy to prioritize traffic lights even in diversion situations. 

City Ghent is satisfied that The line invests in faster trams because a slow tram is not an advertisement for public transport in a city that is fully committed to sustainability and banning cars in the city. More expensive or more drastic interventions to make trams faster are own beds and the removal of parking spaces along the tram tracks. A national communication standard for KAR has now been established in the Netherlands and it is being rolled out in many places in the Netherlands for public transport and for emergency and emergency services. Examples of some municipalities where CAR is used for emergency services are Apeldoorn, Alkmaar, Heerhugowaard and Maastricht. In the province of Zeeland, the ambulance vehicles also use KAR.

Read also  Time for a change on the Belgian buses and trams of De Lijn

Also read: No Ghent Festivities this summer either this year

Veldstraat
Photo: © Pitane Blue - Veldstraat is not a pedestrian street because a busy tram line runs through it
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