01551109

Component

Bus-stop consolidation is one of the most cost-effective ways for a transit agency to improve the quality of their bus services. By removing unnecessary stops, buses will have reduced runtimes, which can lead to higher frequencies and/or fewer buses on a route. Unfortunately, current research on bus stop consolidation and stop spacing focuses on complex mathematical models that are difficult for agencies to apply, and that overlook many important real-world considerations. The goal of this paper is to propose a new bus stop consolidation methodology that is realistic, simple, and effective, while at the same time being sensitive to people with reduced mobility. The new methodology is tested on the bus network of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), Montreal, Canada. Adopting this simple methodology is expected to remove 23% of the network’s stops while only reducing the system coverage area by 1%. The removal of these stops could result in morning-peak savings of 109 hours of operating time and the elimination of a bus from 42 routes at the system level. This methodology can be applied to any urban bus network, and thus can be of interest to transit agencies and transportation researchers.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP050 Bus Transit Systems. Alternate title: Don’t Stop Just Yet! Simple, Effective, and Socially Responsible Approach to Bus-Stop Consolidation.

01550057

15-1333

English

18p

2015

Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Maps; References; Tables

Bus routes; Bus stops; Bus transit operations; Network analysis (Planning); Quality of service; Service discontinuance; Spacing

Montreal (Canada)

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

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2015 Paper #15-1333

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 30 2014 12:31PM