Regular Bus Route Research Articles

Passengers' travel behavior before and after the adjustment of regular bus collinear sections: A case study in the incipient phase of metro operation in Xiamen

Increasing Chinese cities are constructing the metro transit system, which is considered an effective way to reduce urban traffic congestion and meet the rapid growth of travel demand. However, the operation of a new metro line typically coincides with the adjustment or cancellation of regular bus routes along the metro corridor. This paper evaluates the impact of the introduction of a new metro system on the travel mode choice of passengers in the collinear segment. Through longitudinal analysis using the travel data of the same integrated circuit (IC) card owners collected before and after the opening of the metro line, we study how passengers’ travel behaviors changed under a dual traffic environment in which a new metro line has been opened and the collinear bus has been adjusted. In this study, we selected travel distance, travel time difference, whether traveling during peak hours, and the number of colinear stations as independent variables to build a binary logic regression to find out the probability of regular bus collinear segment passengers choosing the metro in the above circumstance. The logistic model shows that mode switching occurs at the highest rate when a regular bus line shares four collinear stations with the metro and declines when the collinear section becomes longer or shorter. Further, the research results indicate that passengers on the collinear sections are more inclined to choose buses during rush hour. This study provides new evidence to better help transit agencies coordinate existing bus services and the new metro system.

Reducing COVID-19 airborne transmission risks on public transportation buses: an empirical study on aerosol dispersion and control

This study is one of the first COVID-19 related bus studies to fully characterize cough aerosol dispersion and control in the highly turbulent real-world environment of driving regular bus routes o...

Прогнозирование транспортной подвижности населения провинций Сирии

The article discusses the transport mobility of the population (TMP) as a key indicator in the design of the network of regular bus routes, as well as the impact of the existence of such routes on the increase the level of TMP in the region. A survey was conducted for residents of the provinces of Syria, the answers to the questions given by people were analyzed using the SPSS program using the well-known formula for calculating the TMP with the addition of the annual number of transportations of a group of passengers (pensioners, housewives) to the place of their activity. Also, there was taken into account the coefficient of potential transportations in accordance with the characteristics of the provinces of Syria. The values of the TMP (actual and potential ones) in these regions and the average TMP for Syria as a whole are given.

Transport system of Northern Bukovyna and Khotyn region in the interwar period

In the article the author describes the main tendencies of the development of the system of communication routes of Northern Bukovyna and Khotyn region in 1918 – 1940.
 In the interwar period, in addition to the improvement of traditional modes of transport, new ones were launched. A major impediment to the improvement of transport infrastructure was the devastation during the World War I. During 1918 – 1940 the damaged sections of rails, bridges and stations had to be rebuilt. Similar were the problems with highways, the condition of which was one of the worst in Romania.
 The progressive shifts should include the establishment of a permanent domestic and international air connection between Northern Bukovyna and Khotyn. Urban public transport has also undergone qualitative changes in the interwar period. There were regular bus routes between the main settlements of the region.
 Keywords: Northern Bukovyna, Khotyn region, transport, rail, roads, tram, trolleybus, bus.

Real-World Fuel Consumption, Fuel Cost and Exhaust Emissions of Different Bus Powertrain Technologies

Air quality in urban areas is strongly influenced by exhaust emitted by the public transport fleet. The aim of this study was to analyze benefits in the fuel consumption, fuel costs and exhaust emissions when replacing baseline diesel fueled EURO III city buses by the compressed natural gas (CNG)-fueled EURO V buses and by hydraulic series hybrid diesel-fueled EURO V buses. Real-world measurements were performed on the regular bus route to access realistic energy consumption and exhaust emissions. Instantaneous gaseous emission (CO2, CO, NOx and THC) were measured together with the instantaneous PM10 mass emission. Innovativeness of the presented approach thus arises from the systematic comparison of different powertrain technologies under real-world drive cycles and measuring time traces of not only gaseous but also of PM10 mass emissions. Furthermore, lumped cycle averaged emissions are interpreted and explained by typical powertrain performance parameters and exhaust emission time traces. Cumulative results indicate that application of the CNG fueled buses does not necessary reduce CO2 emissions compared to diesel-fueled buses whereas reduction in fuel costs is evident. Additionally, it is shown that hybrid operation of the hydraulic series hybrid diesel-fueled bus resulted in higher fuel consumption due to poorly optimized hybrid topology and control strategy. Furthermore, analyses of the time traces point out inadequate lambda control of CNG-fueled buses and nucleation mode-based particle number emissions during deceleration.

Risk factors for unintentional occupational injury among urban transit bus drivers: a cohort longitudinal study

PurposeAlthough many studies have focused on bus operators' occupational diseases, work-related injury and associated risk factor data are limited. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate unintentional injury and exposures that may affect injury risk among metropolitan bus operators. MethodsDemographic, work-related, and injury data obtained from a metropolitan transit company for a 5-year period, enabled estimates of rates per 100 full time equivalents (FTEs) and adjusted Hazard Ratios (HRs), with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), using Generalized Estimating Equations and Cox proportional hazards models, respectively. ResultsThe 2095 bus operators, included in this study, had an unintentional injury rate (95% CI) of 17.8 (16.1–19.7) per 100 FTEs. Multivariable analysis identified increased risks for operators who were female, compared to male (HR = 2.4; 2.0–2.8); worked less than 7 versus 7 to less than 12 hours per day (HR = 4.6; 3.8–5.5); and drove less than 7 versus 7 to less than 12 hours per day (HR = 3.2; 2.7–3.8). Suggestive increased risks were identified for operators working split versus straight shifts (HR = 1.2; 1.0–1.4) and for driving limited versus regular bus routes (HR = 1.36; 1.0–1.8). ConclusionsResults serve as a basis for further studies and inform the development of targeted intervention strategies to reduce bus operators' occupational injuries.

Implementation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on an optimal segment of a long regular bus route

ABSTRACTMajor public transit routes evolve overtime due to changes in demand caused by variations, for example, in land use, household income. As well there are demand/supply interactions due to implementation of new transit technologies such as Light Rail Transit or Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and/or changes in mode of service, for example, skip-stop operations. Planning for such transitions must be done carefully and well in advance to enable on-time implementation. In this paper, we consider the transition from a long, regular bus route in a corridor to a route with a limited stop BRT along a segment of the corridor and a modified regular bus service along its full length. This problem is often faced by transit agencies when they try to make decisions regarding the design parameters of a BRT service. This transition can increase the average speed and maximum possible passenger flow on the route. The proposed approach optimizes the headways of the regular and BRT routes, and chooses the termini of the BRT segment as well as the limited BRT stops. Priority for BRT service is given to O–D pairs with a high value of passenger-hours, essentially the ‘product of the travel demand and the travel time’. Total optimal system costs before and after the mode transition is considered through analytical modelling, and a simple equation is derived for the difference. If the new optimal total system cost, including costs associated with passenger in-vehicle travel time, waiting time, vehicle operating costs, and system capital costs, is lower, the transition is favoured. Insights into the proposed transition are provided through the analytical modelling approach.

Ridership estimation procedure for a transit corridor with new bus rapid transit service

SummaryRidership estimation is a critical step in the planning of a new transit route or change in service. Very often, when a new transit route is introduced, the existing routes will be modified, vehicle capacities changed, or service headways adjusted. This has made ridership forecasts for the new, existing, and modified routes challenging. This paper proposes and demonstrates a procedure that forecasts the ridership of all transit routes along a corridor when a new bus rapid transit (BRT) service is introduced and existing regular bus services are adjusted. The procedure uses demographic data along the corridor, a recent origin–destination survey data, and new and existing transit service features as inputs. It consists of two stages of transit assignment. In the first stage, a transit assignment is performed with the existing transit demand on the proposed BRT and existing bus routes, so that adjustments to the existing bus services can be identified. This transit assignment is performed iteratively until there is no adjustment in transit services. In the second stage, the transit assignment is carried out with the new BRT and adjusted regular bus services, but incorporates a potential growth in ridership because of the new BRT service. The final outputs of the procedure are ridership for all routes and route segments, boarding and alighting volumes at all stops, and a stop‐by‐stop trip matrix. The proposed ridership estimation procedure is applicable to a new BRT route with and without competing regular bus routes and with BRT vehicles traveling in dedicated lanes or in mixed traffic. The application of the proposed procedure is demonstrated via a case study along the Alameda Corridor in El Paso, Texas. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modification of a Hybrid City Bus Powertrain in the Aspect of Lower Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Emissions

In this paper the authors present the methodology and results of exhaust emissions and energy consumption tests of an 18-meter city bus fitted with a serial hybrid drive. During the tests, parameters of the engine operation, capacitor charging level and exhaust emissions were recorded. The tests were performed under actual conditions of the bus operation in city traffic on a regular bus route. The testing cycles were conducted twice on the same vehicle. The first cycle was performed on the bus with the original configuration and the second one - on the optimized engine and drivetrain. The paper presents the results of the conducted investigations and a comparison that tells us whether the optimization changes have a positive influence on the vehicle reducing its energy consumption and exhaust emissions.

Ecological Research of Ownership Drive Train in the Real Traffic with the Engine Parameters Registration

The paper discusses the issues related to the measurement of the operating parameters of a conventional engine and the parameters of a conventional bus in motion. The measurements were performed under actual traffic conditions of a city bus in Poznan. It is noteworthy that on-road tests under actual operating conditions are one of the main trends of the development of the testing methodology and are gradually gaining in importance. Specific conditions were selected to ensure the highest possible reflection of the actual conditions: the traffic similar to the traffic typical of a regular bus route (average traffic on Poznan routes). The tests were performed in the city traffic on a route similar to the actual bus routes of the Poznan bus operator. The tests were conducted for two days (Friday and Saturday), characteristic of very high and very low number of transported people respectively as well as high and medium traffic congestion. During the tests the engine and the driving parameters were recorded continuously as sent from the diagnostic system of the vehicle and the GPS. Based on the exhaust emission level characteristics of the bus fitted with the conventional powertrain the share of the emissions was determined depending on the engine parameters as well as the driving parameters during the whole test. The operating range of the vehicle was within the speeds of 016 m/s (0-60 km/h) and accelerations of 0,3 m/s20,3 m/s2. A great share of the vehicle operation in the urban traffic was at idle (the share amounts to 33%) while for higher speed ranges of 814 m/s the operating time-share was approximately 20%. The authors also performed an analysis of the changes of the exhaust emissions under dynamic conditions depending on the speed of the bus.

E-Bus for Akita Prefecture, Japan

With the aim to improve technologies for EV or new energy industries and to create society with low environmental impact, Akita Prefecture has carried out the “EV Bus Technology Improvement Project”. The project developed an Akita-original electric bus and it further aims to operate the E-Bus on regular bus routes throughout the year.

A mathematical programming model for the bus deviation route problem

In small towns, or in those peripherical metropolitan areas in which the demand for public transportation is relatively low, the objectives of the bus route planner are different from those faced in highly congested networks. Some towns, also in Italy, are experimenting with urban public transportation systems where regular bus routes are designed which allow users located at specific points outside the main line to signal their presence to the bus driver, who then deviates from the main route to satisfy this demand. This way the bus line is a mixture between a regular line and a dial-a-ride system. The bus deviation route problem is concerned with the design problem which arises in planning the location of the demand points outside the line. A model is presented which takes into account both the advantage of passengers served by this deviation device and the disadvantage suffered by passengers on the bus, whose travel time increases during deviations, and by passengers downstream of the deviation whose waiting time also increases. Through some modeling assumption we are able to represent this problem as a mixed integer linear programming problem, whose relatively low dimension allows for exact solution through standard simplex-based branch and bound code. The proposed model has been applied to a real case and some results of this are presented and discussed.