This paper studies the feasibility of automating the exclusive bus lane (XBL) of the Lincoln tunnel corridor. Automating the exclusive bus lane will have benefits including, reduction in travel times and increase in capacity of the bus lane. This way, construction of new lanes, which involves very large amounts of capital investment, could be avoided. Three differentbus controllers that adjust the speed of the bus based on its speed and the spacing with respect to the bus ahead were implemented. Then, the performance of each of the bus controller was examined and the results were compared with the simulation model that represents the existing case. A simulation model for the corridor was developed in Paramics traffic simulationsoftware. Travel time savings were observed for the automated conditions,when it was compared with the existing scenario. In addition, the behavior of the bus controllers under emergency conditions, when one of the traveling buses comes to a halt due to an accident is investigated. It was found that the following buses were able to avoid a crash by coming to a stop quickly. Finally, a cost-benefit analysis was conducted for the automatedscenario and it was determined that automation of the bus lane was beneficial.
Abstract