01334208

Component

Articulated buses are being operated more frequently on popular bus routes, as they can handle higher passenger loads and increase riders’ comfort. Dwell and running times associated to articulated buses are expected to be different from regular low floor buses. The authors use archived bus operation and passenger information data obtained from three heavily used bus routes operated by the Société de Transport de Montréal (STM), Canada to measure these differences. Operation of articulated buses yielded to savings in dwell time, especially with high levels of passenger activity and the use of the third door in alighting. A passenger alighting from third door consumes less time (1.00 second) compared to a passenger alighting from the first or second doors (2.73 seconds or 1.65 seconds respectively). These savings are not reflected in running time, due to increase in the time associated to acceleration, deceleration and merging with traffic. Operating articulated buses increased running time by 1.5% (40 seconds) in average along the studied routes. Although this amount is small, for a transit agency to keep its current level of service it requires modifications in the existing schedules and adding new trips. This study gives transit planners and operators important information on the differences in operating environment between regular and articulated buses.

01329018

11-0232

English

19p

2011

Transportation Research Board 90th Annual Meeting

DVD

Figures (1) ; References (32) ; Tables (9)

Alighting; Articulated buses; Bus transit; Dwell time; Passenger comfort; Public transit; Running time; Schedules and scheduling

Montreal (Canada)

Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2011 Paper #11-0232

TRIS, TRB

Feb 17 2011 5:21PM