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Setting long headways for coordination and service timing benefits: when less is more

This paper provides simple 'rule of thumb' advice to local route level bus planners regarding the trade-offs between 45 minute and a 60 minute headway. Although frequency and timetable setting are major functions of all transit authorities there is limited guidance available regarding the trade-offs which have to be made with regard to waiting time, timed transfers and service timing issues in setting timetables when headways are long. A 60 minute headway has marginally longer passenger wait times for passengers than a 45 minute headway. However at 60 minute headways it is easier to plan for 'timed transfers' and also to enable service timing benefits such as 'clockfaceness', 'even intervalness' and 'round numberedness' (or memorability). Passenger impacts of these factors are modelled using weighted generalised time. The results suggest that a 45 minute headway is preferred to a 60 minute headway if the share of transfer passengers is low. Without service timing benefits and with a low valuation of timed transfer benefits, over 50 per cent of riders must be making transfers to make a 60 minute headway preferable. However with a high valuation for timed transfer benefits and service timing benefits the share of transfer passengers required to make a 60 minute headway preferable can be as low as 10 per cent. The results suggest that in some cases less frequency can be beneficial to passengers than more frequency at long headways.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Pagination: 11p
  • Monograph Title: Transportation Research Board 88th Annual Meeting compendium of papers DVD, January 11-15, 2009, Washington, DC

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01383973
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: ARRB
  • Files: ATRI
  • Created Date: Aug 22 2012 4:05PM