A BUS PRIORITY SYSTEM FOR TRAFFIC SIGNALS

THREE CONTIGUOUS SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS WERE MODERNIZED BY INSTALLING NEW CONTROLLERS, WITH DETECTORS ON THE SIDE STREETS, AND BY INTERCONNECTING THE SIGNALS. THE INTERCONNECTING CABLE, ALONG WITH A CO-ORDINATING UNIT, ALLOWED THESE SIGNALS TO FUNCTION IN A SEQUENCE WHICH ASSURED AN ORDERLY FLOW OF TRAFFIC ALONG THE MAIN STREET. ACTUATED CONTROLLERS AND DETECTORS WERE INSTALLED TO ALLOW THE GREEN TIME ON THE SIDE STREETS TO ADJUST ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES WAITING ON THREE SIDE STREETS. THESE CONTROLLERS HAD BEEN MODIFIED WITH A BUS PRE-EMPT PACKAGE WHICH RESPONDED TO AN INPUT FROM A RADIO RECEIVER WHICH OPERATED FROM TRANSMITTERS LOCATED IN THE BUSES. THE DESIGN OF THE PRE-EMPT PACKAGE AND THE SETTING OF THE CONTROLLER PROVIDED FOR SAFE MINIMUMS FOR VEHICULAR AND PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENTS. TRAVEL AND DELAY STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED BEFORE THE ACTUATED SIGNALS WERE INSTALLED, AFTER THE ACTUATED INTERCONNECTED CONTROLLERS WERE INSTALLED, AND AFTER THE BUS PRIORITY SYSTEM WAS IMPLEMENTED. BUS TRAVEL TIME DECREASED AS A RESULT OF THE INSTALLATION OF THE ACTUATED CONTROLLERS, AND AGAIN WHEN THE BUS PRIORITY SYSTEM WAS IMPLEMENTED. THE RESULTS WERE ADJUSTED TO REFLECT DECREASES IN PASSENGER LOADING TIMES. THE ROUTE WHICH MOST NEARLY RESEMBLED A TRANSIT ROUTE IN A LARGE URBAN AREA INCREASED IN AVERAGE SPEED BY 10%. AUTOMOBILE TRAVEL TIMES DECREASED FOLLOWING THE INSTALLATION AND INTERCONNECTION OF THE ACTUATED CONTROLLERS, HOWEVER A SLIGHT INCREASE IN TRAVEL TIMES OCCURRED AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUS PRIORITY SYSTEM. PART OF THIS INCREASE MAY BE ATTRIBUTED TO INCREASED VEHICULAR TRAFFIC ON THE SIDE STREETS. THE FINDINGS OF THIS REPORT INDICATE THAT BUS TRAVEL TIMES CAN BE IMPROVED WITH THE USE OF MODERN TRAFFIC CONTROL EQUIPMENT; THAT ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS CAN BE MADE BY MODIFYING EXISTING TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS; AND THAT IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER TRAFFIC ENGINEERING IMPROVEMENTS, THE NUMBER OF BUSES ON A ROUTE MIGHT BE REDUCED. THE EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEM REMAIN IN USE AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY. /KSU/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 20 Pp, 5 FiG, PHOTS
• Corporate Authors:

  Kent State University

  ,    
• Publication Date: 1971

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Buses; Strategic planning; Traffic signal controllers; Traffic signals; Travel time
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00226104
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 13 1971 12:00AM