Segregated transit lanes are an efficient means of improving transit reliability/ speed in shared urban roads. A major limitation is the impact these lanes have on road capacity and traffic congestion. Intermittent Bus Lanes (IBL) are an innovative concept including Variable Message Signs (VMS) and road pavement flashing lights which inform motorists to avoid transit lanes only when buses are coming. This provides transit priority while limiting impacts on other road users. If feasible, this approach has the opportunity to substantially increase the scope for transit priority in cities. However feasibility of IBL is a major concern. A trial of IBL was undertaken in Lisbon, Portugal in 2005/6. While the results were promising more practical experience of these concepts is required to justify wide spread implementation of IBL. This paper reviews the performance a variation on the IBL concept, the Dynamic Fairway (DF) adopted for trams in Melbourne, Australia. The system was initiated in 2001 and is still operational today. The paper documents the worlds first practical on-going experience in IBL/DF operation. A review of future plans for a Melbourne bus based IBL developed called the moving bus lane is also presented. Overall the performance of the Lisbon IBL trial appears to be better than that of the Melbourne DF. However circumstances were different including the road configuration, transit mode, levels of congestion and the newness of the technologies involved. Significantly both applications found good driver compliance with transit lanes suggesting the IBL/DF concept has practical performance benefits.
Samenvatting