Simulation evaluation of route-based control of bus operations

In this paper, results of an evaluation of an innovative strategy for minimizing bus bunching are presented. The strategy involves continuous monitoring of bus positions along their route and controlling bus spacing when necessary by employing signal priority and bus holding actions. The evaluation exercise aims to establish traffic and bus operating conditions when the strategy performs best. A simulation model of a hypothetical bus route developed using a PARAMICS (Parallel Microscopic Simulator) is used for this purpose. Bus bunching, measured in terms of disruptions to headways, is found to increase with decreases in design headway, increases in route length, and increases in traffic congestion. When bus spacing is controlled, a significant improvement is seen in cases of shorter design headways of 5 and 10 min, resulting in 80% of cases having more than 10% reduction in excess waiting time and 60% of the cases having more than 20% reduction in excess waiting time.

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