High resolution bus lane performance evaluation from real time update data

Bus priority measures such as bus lanes are designed to enhance bus performance and increase ridership. Traditionally, benefits have been evaluated at an aggregate level. Newer data sources, however, enable the tracking of micro delays and their relation to detailed bus priority data. Given schedule...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tingsen (Tim) Xian, John D. Nelson, Emily Moylan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-07-01
Series:Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198225001526
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849229272856657920
author Tingsen (Tim) Xian
John D. Nelson
Emily Moylan
author_facet Tingsen (Tim) Xian
John D. Nelson
Emily Moylan
author_sort Tingsen (Tim) Xian
collection DOAJ
description Bus priority measures such as bus lanes are designed to enhance bus performance and increase ridership. Traditionally, benefits have been evaluated at an aggregate level. Newer data sources, however, enable the tracking of micro delays and their relation to detailed bus priority data. Given schedule adjustments for bus priority measures, we anticipate minimal impacts on expected delay at the route-segment level, with the primary benefit being reduced delay variability relative to the schedule.This study analyzes real bus arrival data to examine the impact of stop-to-stop route characteristics on marginal delay. The analysis uses pooled, between-, and within- effects panel regression models to predict average and standard deviation of marginal delay for each stop-to-stop segment within rolling windows of 30 arrivals. Independent variables include priority measures, traffic signals, traffic volumes, scheduled travel time, stop-to-stop link length, scheduled travel speed, cross-traffic turns, precipitation, weekends, holidays, and the COVID stringency index.Findings reveal that bus-taxi lanes and bus-HOV lanes reduce marginal delay by 6–7 s per kilometer. While the direct impact on marginal delay is minimal due to schedule adjustments, these lanes significantly reduce the variability of delay, saving 5–20 s of standard deviation of delay per kilometer. The study also highlights the substantial impact of traffic signals and cross-traffic turns on bus performance reliability. These findings support the effectiveness of bus priority measures in improving bus service reliability.
format Article
id doaj-art-eb4473ec71a94570a68f320fa3737ad0
institution Kabale University
issn 2590-1982
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
spelling doaj-art-eb4473ec71a94570a68f320fa3737ad02025-08-22T04:57:32ZengElsevierTransportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives2590-19822025-07-013210147310.1016/j.trip.2025.101473High resolution bus lane performance evaluation from real time update dataTingsen (Tim) Xian0John D. Nelson1Emily Moylan2The School of Civil Engineering (J05), The University of Sydney, Darlington, 2008, NSW, Australia; Corresponding author.The Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS), The University of Sydney Business School, Darlington, 2008, NSW, AustraliaThe School of Civil Engineering (J05), The University of Sydney, Darlington, 2008, NSW, AustraliaBus priority measures such as bus lanes are designed to enhance bus performance and increase ridership. Traditionally, benefits have been evaluated at an aggregate level. Newer data sources, however, enable the tracking of micro delays and their relation to detailed bus priority data. Given schedule adjustments for bus priority measures, we anticipate minimal impacts on expected delay at the route-segment level, with the primary benefit being reduced delay variability relative to the schedule.This study analyzes real bus arrival data to examine the impact of stop-to-stop route characteristics on marginal delay. The analysis uses pooled, between-, and within- effects panel regression models to predict average and standard deviation of marginal delay for each stop-to-stop segment within rolling windows of 30 arrivals. Independent variables include priority measures, traffic signals, traffic volumes, scheduled travel time, stop-to-stop link length, scheduled travel speed, cross-traffic turns, precipitation, weekends, holidays, and the COVID stringency index.Findings reveal that bus-taxi lanes and bus-HOV lanes reduce marginal delay by 6–7 s per kilometer. While the direct impact on marginal delay is minimal due to schedule adjustments, these lanes significantly reduce the variability of delay, saving 5–20 s of standard deviation of delay per kilometer. The study also highlights the substantial impact of traffic signals and cross-traffic turns on bus performance reliability. These findings support the effectiveness of bus priority measures in improving bus service reliability.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198225001526GTFS-RStop-to-stop marginal delayBus performanceBus lanesBus priorityOn-time running
spellingShingle Tingsen (Tim) Xian
John D. Nelson
Emily Moylan
High resolution bus lane performance evaluation from real time update data
Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
GTFS-R
Stop-to-stop marginal delay
Bus performance
Bus lanes
Bus priority
On-time running
title High resolution bus lane performance evaluation from real time update data
title_full High resolution bus lane performance evaluation from real time update data
title_fullStr High resolution bus lane performance evaluation from real time update data
title_full_unstemmed High resolution bus lane performance evaluation from real time update data
title_short High resolution bus lane performance evaluation from real time update data
title_sort high resolution bus lane performance evaluation from real time update data
topic GTFS-R
Stop-to-stop marginal delay
Bus performance
Bus lanes
Bus priority
On-time running
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198225001526
work_keys_str_mv AT tingsentimxian highresolutionbuslaneperformanceevaluationfromrealtimeupdatedata
AT johndnelson highresolutionbuslaneperformanceevaluationfromrealtimeupdatedata
AT emilymoylan highresolutionbuslaneperformanceevaluationfromrealtimeupdatedata