MAITE

The Second Transportation Student Research Symposium

Abstract Detail

Name	School	Title of presentation
Joseph SanClemente	NU	Near-Side, Far-Side, Uphill, Downhill: Impact of Bus Stop Location on Bus Delay

One of the factors affecting where bus stops should be located is the expected delay associated with a bus stop location. On hills, the effect of gravity on already weak diesel engines can lead to considerable additional delay if a bus has to accelerate from a stop. An empirical bus acceleration profile, modified to account for gravity, was applied to constant grade, sag curve, and crest curve profiles. The marginal impact of grade on stopping delay ranged from -4 to 11 s, depending on grade. At signalized intersections, a deterministic model was created that accounts for deceleration, acceleration, and queue interference. Relative to a stop placed away from an intersection, far side stop placement causes either a tiny reduction in delay, or has no effect. Near side placement can reduce delay in a few cases such as reserved bus lanes, but more often it increases delay, sometimes considerably depending on factors including red ratio, volume / capacity ratio, cycle length, and stop setback. Measures that reduce interference with the queue tend to reduce the incremental delay from a near-side location; they include increasing the stop setback, shortening the cycle length, and giving the bus a (near) exclusive lane. Results are presented in simple tables containing default adjustments for hills and signalized intersections that can be used in the context of a stop spacing study.

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Last updated January 9, 2009