Abstract
On urban streets with bus stops, bus arrivals can disrupt traffic flows in the neighboring areas. Different stop designs have distinct influences on the road users. This study aims to evaluate how different types of bus stops affect the operations of vehicles, bicycles, and buses that pass by. Four types of stops that differ in geometric layout are examined. They are termed the shared bike/bus (Type 1), separated shared bike/bus (Type 2), vehicle/bus with inboard bike lane (Type 3), and bus bay with inboard bike lane (Type 4). Data are collected from eight sites in two cities of China. Results of data analysis show that different bus stop designs have quite different impacts on the neighboring traffic flows. More specifically, Type 3 stops create the least bicycle delay but the largest vehicle delay. Type 4 stops have the least impact on bicycle and vehicle operations, but occupy the most road space. Traffic operations are less affected by Type 1 stops than by Type 2 stops. Policy suggestions are discussed regarding the optimal design of bus stops that minimizes the total vehicle delay of all modes.
Highlights
In recent years, as urban streets becoming more congested, many cities and countries have considered developing public transit systems within urban areas [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
Traffic flow information of bicycles, vehicles, and buses were extracted from the video camera data
During the data processing procedure, the time that each bicycle/vehicle passed the locations A and B was recorded as the location A (tA) and the location B (tB)
Summary
As urban streets becoming more congested, many cities and countries have considered developing public transit systems within urban areas [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Previous studies have evaluated traffic operations near bus stops. Some studies evaluated the traffic flow characteristics in the vicinity of stops [9,10,11,12,13]. Sun and Elefteriadou [13] analyzed the characteristics of vehicle lanechanging behaviors near the bus stops. Tirachini et al [11] evaluated the impact of the passenger crowding at the bus stops on the operations and travel time of buses. Some other studies focused on evaluating the conflicts between different road users near the bus stop areas [14,15,16,17,18]. Zhao et al [16] evaluated the traffic interactions between the motorized and nonmotorized vehicles near a bus stop. The above studies did not distinguish the types of bus stop designs
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