INCREASING THE PEOPLE-MOVING CAPABILITY OF SHIRLEY HIGHWAY

Because of the dramatic increase in construction costs of rail rapid transit in recent years, the exclusive highway right-of-way for high-occupancy vehicles has emerged as a possible cost effective alternative for transporting peak-period commuters through congested corridors. The Shirley Highway busway in northern Virginia offered the first such exclusive right-of-way when its first section was opened to buses in 1969. The busway was opened to car pools of four of more riders in December 1973 and became the principal element of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration's Shirley Highway express-bus-on-freeway project, which was conducted for 1 year until December 1974. Priority treatment accorded buses and car pools resulted in a substantial improvement in the corridor's people-moving capability during peak hours. In addition, considerable travel-time savings were realized by all commuters using Shirley Highway. This paper discusses (a) increases in the people-moving capability of Shirely Highway and (b) the reasons for the increases. The increases in the people-moving capability of Shirley Highway can be attributed to increases in commuter use of buses and car pools. Particular attention was given to bus users to determine why a large number of automobile users--many with upper-middle incomes from homes with several automobilies--switched to bus and why some bus users switched to automobiles (driving alone or car pooling). /Author/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1977/626/626-006.pdf
• Summary URL:
  http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=INCREASING+THE+PEOPLE-MOVING+CAPABILITY+OF+SHIRLEY+HIGHWAY&author=J.+MCQUEEN&author=R.+Waksman&publication_year=1977
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Bus Transit Systems. 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:
  • MCQUEEN, JAMES T
  • Waksman, Robert
• Conference:
  • 56th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1977-1-24 to 1977-1-28
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 21-27
• Monograph Title: Bus service planning
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 626
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transportation; Busways; Carpools; Commuting; Cost effectiveness; Mode choice; Peak periods; Routes; Transportation corridors; Travel time
• Geographic Terms: Virginia
• Old TRIS Terms: Modal selection; Reserved routes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00167592
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309026512
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 16 1981 12:00AM