Methodology for Delay-Based Passenger Car Equivalencies for Urban Transit Buses

Abstract

A delay-based passenger car equivalent (D-PCE) methodology for stopping transit buses is presented in this paper. It is based on a D-PCE approach developed in 2000. Field data collected at a near-side bus stop in Chicago, Illinois, were used to determine the total additional delay experienced by bus queues and to illustrate the D-PCE methodology. The relationships between total additional delay, D-PCE, and the factors contributing to delay such as bus dwell time, the number of vehicles queued behind the bus, the bus position within the queue, and the bus arrival-departure time within the cycle were evaluated. The approach is illustrated for cases when the stopping bus was in the first position in the queue. It was found that a bus in first position replaces 5.9 passenger cars. It was also observed that the total additional delay and D-PCE values increased with the factors contributing to additional delay.