A comparative evaluation of the safety performance of bus priority route configurations

Abstract

One way to promote public transport use in cities lies in establishing bus priority routes (BPRs) on main traffic arterials, to reduce bus travel times. But, BPRs require infrastructure changes in road layouts, creating more complex traffic settings that may have safety implications. Previous research indicated that design features affect BPRs' safety, but findings regarding the impacts of various BPR configurations are scarce. In this study, we examined the safety performance of three BPR configurations: barrier-separated central, open centre-lane and curbside BPRs, in Israel. Multivariate regression models were fitted to identify design features affecting accident occurrences on urban arterials with BPRs, using a database on all BPRs in operation. The comparative evaluations showed that barrier-separated BPRs were characterised by lower accident rates on road sections but by substantially higher accident numbers at junctions, relative to other BPR types, and particularly when bus-overtaking was possible. Hence, the use of barrier-separated bus routes should be reduced and bus-overtaking settings should be avoided, when implementing BPRs. In the comparison of curbside and center-lane BPRs none of them demonstrated a superior safety performance: the centre-lane BPRs were safer on sections while at junctions both types had advantages for certain accident types, thus, both forms are applicable in future BPR designs.