IMPROVING PUBLIC TRANSIT THROUGH BUS PREEMPTION OF TRAFFIC SIGNALS

AN EXPERIMENT WAS CONDUCTED IN LOS ANGELES TO EVALUATE, UNDER ACTUAL TRAFFIC FLOW CONDITIONS, THE POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF BUS PREEMPTION OF TRAFFIC SIGNALS, WITH THE AIM OF INTRODUCING A PRIORITY SYSTEM THAT WOULD REDUCE OVERALL PERSON DELAY. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT A SAVING IN TOTAL PERSON DELAY AS WELL AS BUS PASSENGER DELAY MAY BE ACHIEVED BY PREEMPTING SIGNALS FOR BUSES. THE OBSERVED REDUCTION IN BUS PASSENGER DELAY OF 70 TO 76 PERSENT AT TWO INTERSECTIONS IN THIS EXPERIMENT WOULD BE APPLICABLE TO THE TOTAL DELAY AT RED TRAFFIC SIGNAL LIGHTS, WHICH REPRESENTED ABOUT 5 TO 7 PERCENT OF THE TYPICAL BUS RIDER'S PORTAL-TO-PORTAL TRAVEL TIME OR 10 TO 15 PERCENT OF HIS RIDING TIME IN LOS ANGELES AT THE TIME OF THE EXPERIMENT. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT TIME LOSS DUE TO DECELERATION AND ACCELERATION WOULD INCREASE THESE FIGURES BY PERHAPS ONE-THIRD. THUS THE STUDY INDICATED A POSSIBLE REDUCTION IN BUS RIDER PORTAL-TO- PORTAL TRIP TIME ON THE ORDER OF 5 TO 7 PERCENT, A SAVING OF APPROXIMATELY TWO MINUTES OUT OF HIS AVERAGE 30-MINUTE TOTAL JOURNEY, OR APPROXIMATELY 15-MINUTE BUS RIDE. /AUTHOR/

Media Info

  • Pagination: p. 531-543
  • Serial:
    • Traffic Quarterly
    • Volume: 24
    • Issue Number: 4
    • Publisher: Eno Transportation Foundation
    • ISSN: 0041-0713

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00225942
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: May 10 2001 12:00AM