Site-specific optimization of bus stop locations and designs over a corridor

Abstract

Bus stops, interfacing passenger demand with route design and traffic dynamics, play a critical role in improving bus operation efficiency. This study proposes a two-lane based link-node cell transmission model referring to bus stop length, for the optimization of bus stop locations and designs against car and bus demand as well as bus dwell time, along a corridor with sequent links of specific length, which are connected with signalized intersections and inserted with sparse or dense stops. Thus the effect on total travel time can be exploited of the complex relationship between traffic dynamics and continuous stops. The nonlinear modeling is then converted to mixed integer linear programming, which is solvable to optimality. Numerical analyses validate that the proposed stop configuration reduces total travel time under all cases, averaged to be 20.5% and 7.1% for the corridor with short and long links, respectively. The proposed scheme combines harbor-style and curb-side stops which may be far-side, mid-block, or near-side to coordinate bus and car flow, where MLC is reduced up to 32% on some links to alleviate capacity drop especially for the corridor with short links and dense stops, and DLC is increased up to 25% to enhance road utilization especially for the corridor with long links. This research provides insights on the designs and locations of bus stops along urban streets, to alleviate the conflicts between buses and cars for efficient and attractive bus service.