This report reviews present knowledge of bus control. It discusses the nature of the problems to be overcome, the types of control system which are available and the methods which can be applied with their aid to overcome the problems. It presents the results of experiments which have been carried out in order to estimate the scale of benefits to be derived from control. These experiments have employed both before-and-after surveys on actual bus routes and simulation studies with computer models. Social and financial accounting analyses of the results are given but for various reasons are believed to be of only limited use in enabling the justification for future expenditure on control to be judged. In spite of this a number of tentative conclusions have been drawn concerning the requirements of future systems and the types of system, if any, which are most appropriate in different circumstances. (Author/publisher)
Abstract