Method for Assessing Bus Delay in Mixed Traffic to Identify Transit Priority Improvement Locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts

2015 ◽  
Vol 2533 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey L. Rosenblum ◽  
Duncan W. Allen ◽  
Tegin L. Bennett ◽  
Ritesh K. Warade ◽  
Cleo M. Stoughton
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Signals ◽  
Bus Priority ◽  
Urban Transit ◽  
Bus Delay ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Vehicle Delay ◽  
Site Field ◽  
Operating Space ◽  
Composite Rating ◽  
The City

Urban transit services face a number of challenges from space constraints, congestion, and delays, among other issues. Implementing bus priority at traffic signals or providing exclusive operating space for buses can increase the attractiveness of taking the bus and thereby encourage ridership. The City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, was looking to pilot such interventions to demonstrate benefits of bus ridership, but needed a prioritized list of route segments with the largest levels of excess travel time to do so. Three metrics were used to evaluate delay: vehicle delay, overall passenger delay, and system reliability. These three metrics were combined into a single composite rating system for each segment and used to identify route segments along which buses experienced the most delay. The City of Cambridge analyzed high-ridership bus routes with automatic passenger counter data to identify segments along the route where buses experienced substantial delay. The next step for this project is to conduct an on-site field visit of targeted segments to develop potential bus prioritization proposals for each. This paper outlines the method developed to calculate bus delay by segment and presents results for one route analyzed.

Spatial and Temporal Differences in Weekday Travel Durations Between Private-for-Hire Transportation Services and Transit in the City Center

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110197
Author(s):  
Baxter Shandobil ◽  
Ty Lazarchik ◽  
Kelly Clifton
Keyword(s):  
Transportation Network ◽  
Central City ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
City Center ◽  
Transportation Services ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Level Information ◽  
The City

There is increasing evidence that ridehailing and other private-for-hire (PfH) services such as taxis and limousines are diverting trips from transit services. One question that arises is where and when PfH services are filling gaps in transit services and where they are competing with transit services that are publicly subsidized. Using weekday trip-level information for trips originating in or destined for the city center of Portland, OR from PfH transportation services (taxis, transportation network companies, limousines) and transit trip data collected from OpenTripPlanner, this study investigated the temporal and spatial differences in travel durations between actual PfH trips and comparable transit trips (the same origin–destination and time of day). This paper contributes to this question and to a growing body of research about the use of ridehailing and other on-demand services. Specifically, it provides a spatial and temporal analysis of the demand for PfH transportation using an actual census of trips for a given 2 week period. The comparison of trip durations of actual PfH trips to hypothetical transit trips for the same origin–destination pairs into or out of the central city gives insights for policy making around pricing and other regulatory frameworks that could be implemented in time and space.

Measuring Benefits of Rural and Small Urban Transit in Greater Minnesota

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812199001
Author(s):  
Jeremy Mattson ◽  
Del Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Urban Transit ◽  
Societal Benefits ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
Benefit Cost

The objective of this research was to measure the benefits of rural and small urban transit services in Minnesota. The study accomplished this by first identifying, describing, and classifying the potential benefits of transit. Second, a method was developed to measure these benefits. Where possible, benefits were quantified in dollar values. Other benefits that could not be quantified in monetary terms were either quantified in another way or described qualitatively. The study included an analysis of societal benefits and economic impacts within local communities. Third, the developed method was applied to a series of six case studies across Greater Minnesota. Data were collected through onboard rider surveys for each of the six transit agencies. Total benefits and benefit-cost ratios were estimated for the six transit agencies—all showed benefits that exceeded costs—and results were generalized to Greater Minnesota. Economic impacts were also estimated showing the effect on jobs, labor income, and value added. This research provides information to assess the benefits of public spending on transit, which gives decision makers the data needed to inform investment decisions.

scholarly journals City Best Practices to Improve Transit Operations and Safety

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle DeRobertis ◽  
Christopher E. Ferrell ◽  
Richard W. Lee ◽  
David Moore
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Metropolitan Planning ◽  
Passenger Safety ◽  
Municipal Policies ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
The City ◽  
Policies And Practices

Public, fixed-route transit services most commonly operate on public streets. In addition, transit passengers must use sidewalks to access transit stops and stations. However, streets and sidewalks are under the jurisdiction of municipalities, not transit agencies. Various municipal policies, practices, and decisions affect transit operations, rider convenience, and passenger safety. Thus, these government entities have an important influence over the quality, safety, and convenience of transit services in their jurisdictions. This research identified municipal policies and practices that affect public transport providers’ ability to deliver transit services. They were found from a comprehensive literature review, interviews and discussions with five local transit agencies in the U.S., five public transportation experts and staff from five California cities. The city policies and practices identified fall into the following five categories: Infrastructure for buses, including bus lanes, signal treatments, curbside access; Infrastructure for pedestrians walking and bicycling to, and waiting at, transit stops and stations; Internal transportation planning policies and practices; Land development review policies; Regional and metropolitan planning organization (MPO) issues. The understanding, acknowledgment, and implementation of policies and practices identified in this report can help municipalities proactively work with local transit providers to more efficiently and effectively operate transit service and improve passenger comfort and safety on city streets.

Last Subway

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Mark Plotch
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Cautionary Tale ◽  
East Side ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Construction Period ◽  
Transit Services ◽  
Subway System ◽  
To Come ◽  
The City ◽  
New Yorkers

This book is the fascinating and dramatic story behind New York City's struggle to build a new subway line under Second Avenue and improve transit services all across the city. The book reveals why the city's subway system, once the best in the world, is now too often unreliable, overcrowded, and uncomfortable. It explains how a series of uninformed and self-serving elected officials have fostered false expectations about the city's ability to adequately maintain and significantly expand its transit system. Since the 1920s, New Yorkers have been promised a Second Avenue subway. When the first of four planned phases opened on Manhattan's Upper East Side in 2017, subway service improved for tens of thousands of people. Riders have been delighted with the clean, quiet, and spacious new stations. Yet these types of accomplishments will not be repeated unless New Yorkers learn from their century-long struggle. The book offers valuable lessons in how governments can overcome political gridlock and enormous obstacles to build grand projects. However, it is also a cautionary tale for cities. It reveals how false promises, redirected funds, and political ambitions have derailed subway improvements. Given the ridiculously high cost of building new subways in New York and their lengthy construction period, the Second Avenue subway (if it is ever completed) will be the last subway built in New York for generations to come.

Analysis of Cooperative Bus Priority at Traffic Signals

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1929-1940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Seredynski ◽  
Georgios Laskaris ◽  
Francesco Viti
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Signals ◽  
Bus Priority

Pedestrian Travel Times and Motor Vehicle Traffic Signals

1996 ◽  
Vol 1553 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. Noland
Keyword(s):  
Travel Time ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Traffic Signals ◽  
Vehicle Traffic ◽  
Cycle Times ◽  
Signal Average ◽  
Vehicle Delay ◽  
Pedestrian Traffic ◽  
Pedestrian Travel ◽  
Travel Delay

Traffic signals generally have been installed to maximize the flow of motor vehicle traffic by reducing the average travel delay time. Under free-flow conditions, motor vehicle travel delay is very sensitive to the amount of green phase and the total cycle of the traffic signal. Average pedestrian delay at traffic signals is not taken into account. Some simple examples are used to demonstrate that travel time delay costs to pedestrians caused by existing signalization cycles may often result in increased travel time costs to society. In areas with heavy pedestrian traffic (or during peak pedestrian hours), traffic signals should trade off the costs of motor vehicle delay with pedestrian delay. This may suggest that in some areas, motor vehicle traffic should be banned or severely restricted. Narrower street widths that can allow reduced total signal cycle times can also reduce pedestrian delay.

The Car and the City

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Blanke
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Urban Transit ◽  
Cultural Attitudes ◽  
Congested Traffic ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Recent Phase ◽  
Ease Of Access ◽  
The City

The relationship between the car and the city remains complex and involves numerous private and public forces, innovations in technology, global economic fluctuations, and shifting cultural attitudes that only rarely consider the efficiency of the automobile as a long-term solution to urban transit. The advantages of privacy, speed, ease of access, and personal enjoyment that led many to first embrace the automobile were soon shared and accentuated by transit planners as the surest means to realize the long-held ideals of urban beautification, efficiency, and accessible suburbanization. The remarkable gains in productivity provided by industrial capitalism brought these dreams within reach and individual car ownership became the norm for most American families by the middle of the 20th century. Ironically, the success in creating such a “car country” produced the conditions that again congested traffic, raised questions about the quality of urban (and now suburban) living, and further distanced the nation from alternative transit options. The “hidden costs” of postwar automotive dependency in the United States became more apparent in the late 1960s, leading to federal legislation compelling manufacturers and transit professionals to address the long-standing inefficiencies of the car. This most recent phase coincides with a broader reappraisal of life in the city and a growing recognition of the material limits to mass automobility.

Comparison of Simulation Modules of TRANSYT and INTEGRATION Models

1996 ◽  
Vol 1566 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hesham A. Rakha ◽  
Michel W. Van Aerde
Keyword(s):  
Travel Time ◽  
Cycle Length ◽  
Traffic Signals ◽  
Complex Signal ◽  
Dynamic Features ◽  
Total Travel Time ◽  
Vehicle Delay ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Vehicle Travel Time ◽  
Signal Network

The TRANSYT simulation/optimization model serves as an unofficial international standard against which many measure the efficiency of other methods of coordinating networks of traffic signals that operate at a constant and common cycle length. However, dynamics due to traffic rerouting, the simultaneous operation of adjacent traffic signals at different cycle lengths, the effect of queue spillbacks on the capacity of upstream links, and various forms of real-time intersection control cannot be modeled using a static model such as TRANSYT. This has created a unique niche for a more dynamic signal network simulation tool. Before modeling such special dynamic scenarios, there first exists a need to validate the static signal control features of such a model and to determine if its unique dynamic features still permit it to yield credible static results. This study has two objectives. First, it attempts to illustrate the extent to which estimates of vehicle travel time, vehicle delay, and number of vehicle stops are related when a standard static signal network is examined using both TRANSYT and INTEGRATION. Second, it strives to illustrate that the types of more complex signal timing problems, which at present cannot be examined by the TRANSYT model, can be examined using the dynamic features of INTEGRATION. The results are intended to permit a better appreciation of both their differences and similarities and permit a more informed decision as to when and where each model should be used. Also demonstrated is that INTEGRATION simulates traffic-signalized networks in a manner that is consistent with TRANSYT for conditions in which TRANSYT is valid. Specifically, the difference in total travel time and percentage of vehicle stops is within 5 percent. In addition, it is also shown that INTEGRATION can simulate conditions that represent the limitations to the current TRANSYT model, such as degrees of saturation in excess of 95 percent and adjacent signals operating at different cycle length durations. This analysis of the simulation features of TRANSYT and INTEGRATION is intended to be a precursor to a comparison of their respective optimization routines.

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