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Title:

Influence of Traffic Signal Controls on Bus Operations

Accession Number:

01657406

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

The literature usually attributed transit system instability to bus dwell process at stops and stochastic bus travel times along the roads. The influence of traffic signal controls has not been well examined. The authors conduct empirical and numerical studies to investigate the influence of signal controls on bus operations based on data collected on an operational bus route of Shanghai. The empirical study quantifies bunching rates on different route segments. The numerical study investigates the sensitivity of transit level of service to scheduled headway when different control strategies are implemented. Transit level of service is quantified by passenger generalized cost consisting of waiting time and perceived in-vehicle travel time. Empirical results reveal that transit instability is mainly due to signal controls at intersections and dwell process at bus stops and the influence of signal controls is larger. Numerical results reveal that the likelihood of bus bunching is high when the scheduled headway is close to the cycle lengths, due to the influence of signal controls. As a result, shorter scheduled headway could result in longer waiting time and perceived in-vehicle travel time. An optimal scheduled headway that minimizes total passenger cost exists, but its value depends on the implemented control strategies. The findings highlight the contribution of signal controls to transit instability and the importance of considering the influence of signal controls when designing bus dispatching and control strategies.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP050 Standing Committee on Bus Transit Systems.

Report/Paper Numbers:

18-01899

Language:

English

Authors:

Ji, Yuxiong
Li, Yiming
Jiang, Shengchuan
Wang, Wei
Du, Yuchuan

Pagination:

6p

Publication Date:

2018

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

Figures; References; Tables

Geographic Terms:

Shanghai (China)

Subject Areas:

Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-01899

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Jan 8 2018 10:28AM