01553116

Component

Bus priority is important in cities to encourage people to use public transport. However, providing a dedicated bus lane is not always feasible. It might not be the most efficient solution either, especially if bottlenecks such as traffic signals exist. This paper examines an alternative strategy to use an additional signal upstream of the main signal (a pre-signal) to provide bus priority at signalized intersections. Its primary purpose is to allow buses to jump the car queues before the intersection while cars can still use all the lanes at the main signal to fully utilize the capacity of the intersection. This paper formulates an online control algorithm to operate an intersection with such pre-signal infrastructure. The control algorithm is developed by determining the best operating strategy for the intersection at each demand level using a micro-simulation model in VISSIM. In a simulation case study, it is observed that compared to using a dedicated bus lane, the congestion upstream of the intersection during peak hours mitigated. Meanwhile, compared to using mixed-use lanes, the average person delay during the off-peak hours is lower and bus priority is provided. Therefore, it is concluded that implementing a pre-signal with the proposed online control algorithm provides a good balance between providing bus priority and sustaining car throughput.

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

01550057

15-2793

English

13p

2015

Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Maps; References; Tables

Adaptive control; Bus priority; Case studies; Microsimulation; Signalized intersections

VISSIM (Computer model)

Presignals

Zurich (Switzerland)

Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation; I73: Traffic Control

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2015 Paper #15-2793

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 30 2014 12:57PM