This paper discusses several innovative approaches to providing bus priority, and gives some practical advice about their implementation. Recent bus priority schemes have aimed to: (1) reduce total bus journey times by an average of 25% during peak periods; and (2) improve service reliability by halving the standard deviation of bus journey times in all periods throughout the week. The following innovative measures are described: (1) gap generation facility; (2) pre-signals; (3) queue relocation strategy; and (4) SCOOT/MOVA/bus tracking. They all depend on the unique identification of buses in moving traffic; thus they usually require fitting buses with transponders and installing selective vehicle detection vehicle detection along the route. Some supporting technologies are described for: (1) detecting whether a bus is stopping; (2) communication systems; and (3) enforcement. A special model has been developed for predicting the effects of incorporating queue relocation and pre-signals. Until innovative techniques are well-understood, exhaustive before-and-after studies will be needed, to monitor changes in delay to all traffic. A major consideration in designing innovative bus priority measures is the types of control equipment that they use.
Abstract