URBAN EXPRESS BUS AND RAILROAD PERFORMANCE

The relative performance of traditional local transport modes with a proposed investment in a commuter railroad or in express bus operations was appraised by a computer simulation which determined travel time, waiting time, walking time and monetary costs involved for each mode for complete trips from a suburban area to the central business district four miles away. In this rather narrow situation the commuter railroad is completely dominated in cost and time performance by express bus systems. If the distance between the suburban and downtown areas were increased, relative performance by buses would decline. The author suggests the express bus must be considered as a rail alternative and in any commuter system an integrated downtown distribution with several stops can greatly enhance system performance.