Large-scale conversion of buses to one-man-operation is currently being undertaken by many operators. This report considers in detail the stop-time characteristics of a variety of different bus types, both one and two-man- operated, and tries to identify some promising one-man- operated systems. Analysis shows that on an urban route with an average of 3 people boarding and 3 people alighting at each stop, the average stop-time of a traditional two-man- operated bus with an open-rear-platform would be about 8 seconds, whereas on the same route the average stop-times of one-man-operated buses would be from 11 to 20 seconds or more. For some bus types, a significant proportion of stop- time is taken up by door operation. The importance of finding one-man systems with low average stop-times is underlined by cost-benefit analysis. The total saving to the community, arising from reduction in delays to bus passengers, reduced congestion, and reduced costs to the bus company, resulting from a reduction in average stop- times of 1 second, is estimated, using 1968 data, to be #0.5m per annum in central London alone. (Author/publisher)
Abstract