Bus dwell times, passenger service times, and bus capacities areanalyzed for the midtown manhattan central business district. Surveys were conducted in 1988 at seven sites on madison, fifth, and sixth avenues. Service times per passenger averaged approximately 8 sec as a result of complex fare structures. Dwell times were best predicted by an exponential model that explained more than two-thirds of the variance. Application of the highway capacity manual formula for the capacity of a bus stop produced acceptable results in cases for which the lane was used exclusively by buses. More significantly, the reductive factor of 0.83, As given in the highway capacity manual, was found to closely approximate the reductive effects of buses on the capacity of midtown manhattan streets. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1266, Urban public transportation research 1990.
Abstract