Influences of Various Types of Bus Stops on Traffic Operations of Bicycles, Vehicles, and Buses

On urban streets the arrival of buses could disturb the traffic flow in the vicinity of bus stop stations. Different types of bus stops could have distinct impact on the operation of different road users. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate how different types of bus stops influence the operation of bicycles, vehicles, and buses. Four types of stops were considered according to the geometric feature and lane arrangement. Field data collection was conducted on 8 typical roads in Nanjing and Shanghai, China. The results of this study showed that different bus stop designs had quite different impacts on the operations of traffic flow. More specifically, Type 3 stop had the least impact on bicycle speed, but had the largest impact on vehicle speed. Type 4 stop had the least impact on bicycle and vehicle traffic operation, but occupied the most road resource. Type 1 stop had better operational feature of traffic flow as compared to that near the Type 2 stop. Suggestions regarding the design of bus stops were discussed according to the delay of bicycles, vehicles, and buses produced at each stop type.