EVALUATION OF A NATIONAL EXPERIMENT IN BUS RAPID TRANSIT

An extensive evaluation is being performed of a bus rapid transit system in Los Angeles that uses exclusive bus lanes in the median strip of a freeway. This national experiment is currently quite successful. Operational feasibility has been demonstrated, and the number of busway system riders has continuously grown over the first 18 months of operation even though the facility is only partially operational. The new riders are former automobile users, and their socioeconomic profiles are more similar to automobile commuters than to bus commuters. Assuming that car occupancy is only 1.3 persons/vehicle, the busway system has at least a tenfold greater capacity (per traffic lane) than the highway system. However, the busway lanes during peak periods currently carry only about half of the person trips that are carried by a freeway lane but are catching up fast. The principal causes for travelers switching from automobile to busway commuting, based on survey results, are to save travel time and to avoid the frustration of the stop-and-go characteristics of a congested freeway.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1975/546/546-003.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=EVALUATION+OF+A+NATIONAL+EXPERIMENT+IN+BUS+RAPID+TRANSIT&author=J.+Crain&publication_year=1975
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/030902451X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Busways and Bus Lanes. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Crain, John L
• Conference:
  • 54th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia
  • Date: 1975-1-13 to 1975-1-17
• Publication Date: 1975

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 22-29
• Monograph Title: Regional Bus Transportation
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 546
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Analysis; Automobiles; Bus lanes; Bus rapid transit; Bus transportation; Costs; Data collection; Evaluation; Freeways; Households; Modal split; Peak periods; Public transit; Ridership; Surveys; Travel time
• Uncontrolled Terms: Cost analysis; Occupancy
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00129345
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 030902451X
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 21 1981 12:00AM