Components of Travel Time on the Glendale Beeline Bus Network

Abstract

The city of Glendale is interested in exploring the feasibility of a traffic priority system that would give signal priority to buses and emergency vehicles at signalized intersections. The amount of time spent waiting at traffic signals is a key concern in assessing the feasibility of such a system. Transit systems generally track running time for individual trips to ensure that bus schedules are accurate. This information typically is used within the transit industry to adjust running times throughout the course of the day to account for different levels of traffic congestion. However, little work has been done to determine the components that make up running time. The time spent by Beeline buses in various aspects of service is identified and measured. Dwell time at stops, travel time (or time when the bus is in motion between stops), traffic signal delay time, general traffic delay time, and recovery time at the end of each trip are addressed. The results indicate that a combination of reduction in signal delay time and scheduling adjustments could produce meaningful cost savings by reducing the number of vehicles required in the midday period, which is the peak vehicle period for the local Beeline system.