Speeding-up measures in public transport are widespread all over the world, well engineered and efficient both on the public economic and transport companies level. Especially at traffic signals unnecessary delays can be reduced considerably. During field tests in Nrnberg, Krefeld, Munich and Kassel travel speed increased by 12% from 17 to 19 km/h. This looks a rather disappointing result, but there were additional plus points. The variation in travel times was reduced, the number of stops decreased and punctuality was better. This success was achieved without any excessively detrimental effects for private car traffic, but some authors refer to the transfer of delay to pedestrians which have to wait much longer to cross the street. The paper summarizes some European experiences in this sector. The Hamburg speeding-up program is a good example to show in what extent pedestrians are involved in this problem. The Hamburg scheme was brought into operation in two parts: West (11 km, 32 signals, 95000 passengers/day, nine bus lines) East (4,7 km, 14 signals, 56000 passengers/day, six bus lines). The aim of this paper is to analyze the delays of bus passengers and pedestrians (including arrival distributions) at important signals for off-peak and peak periods by short time comparison of fixed-time and bus-oriented control strategy. Additional results give roadside interviews of pedestrians. At the end there will be an overall evaluation to integrate the ecological road users.
Samenvatting