Public Transportation

China's Urban Transportation System: Issues and Policies Facing Cities

Cherry, Chris
2005

China is the most populous country in the world. With a population of 1.3 billion, meeting the housing and transportation needs of this vast country are on the forefront of the political and academic agenda in China and throughout the world. China has experienced phenomenal economic and social growth and as a result the Chinese have desired more mobility and living space. The effects of these desires are beginning to be seen in new auto oriented ex-urban developments that have larger living spaces than the traditional urban centers and whose road infrastructure is developed to support high...

Structure of Competitive Transit Networks

Daganzo, Carlos F.
2009

This paper describes the network shapes and operating characteristics that allow a transit system to deliver a level of service competitive with that of the automobile. To provide exhaustive results for service regions of different sizes and demographics, the paper idealizes these regions as squares, and their possible networks with a broad and realistic family that combines the grid and the hub-and-spoke concepts. The paper also shows how to use these results to generate master plans for transit systems of real cities.The analysis reveals which network structure and technology (Bus, BRT...

Innovative Bus-Lane Deployments in Amman: Proposed Field Experiments

Guler, Ilgin
Cassidy, Michael
2010

Innovative strategies for deploying bus lanes are proposed for field tests in Amman, Jordan. The objective is to reduce delays to buses in the network while minimizing delays to other vehicular traffic. The proposed strategies may be far better options than conventional, static bus lanes, given the test site’s large car demand and low bus frequency. The experiment is designed to be conducted in simple, safe ways, without the need for investment in permanent infrastructure.

A Dynamic Holding Strategy to Improve Bus ScheduleReliability and Commercial Speed

Xuan, Yiguang
Argote, Juan
Daganzo, Carlos F.
2011

Bus systems are naturally unstable. Without control, the slightest disturbance to bus motion can cause buses to bunch, reducing schedule reliability. Holding strategies can eliminate this instability. However, the conventional schedule-based holding method requires too much slack time, which slows buses. This delays on-board passengers and increases operating costs. This paper studies a family of dynamic holding strategies that use the current state of all buses, as well as a virtual schedule. The virtual schedule is introduced whether the system is run with a published schedule or not. We...

Morning Commute with Competing Modes and DistributedDemand: User Equilibrium, System Optimum, and Pricing

Gonzales, Eric J.
Daganzo, Carlos F.
2011

The morning commute problem for a single bottleneck is extended to model mode choice in an urban area with time-dependent demand. This extension recognizes that street space is shared by cars and public transit. It is assumed that transit is operated independently of traffic conditions, and that when it is operated it consumes a fixed amount of space. As a first step, a single fixed-capacity bottleneck that can serve both cars and transit is studied. Commuters choose which mode to use and when to travel in order to minimize the generalized cost of their own trip. The transit agency chooses...

Strategies for Mitigating Impacts of Near-Side Bus Stops on Cars

Gu, Weihua
Cassidy, Michael J.
Gayah, Vikash V.
Ouyang, Yanfeng
2012

"Near-side stops" are bus stops located a short distance upstream of a signalized intersection. A bus dwelling at a near-side stop can impede queued cars upstream as they discharge during their green time at the intersection. Added car delays and residual queues can result. All else equal, the closer the stop’s location to the intersection, the greater the potential damage to car traffic. Models for locating these near-side stops to achieve target levels of residual queueing among cars are formulated using kinematic wave theory. This same approach was also used to develop a strategy for...

Reducing bunching with bus-to-bus cooperation

Daganzo, Carlos F.
Pilachowski, Josh
2009

Schedule-based or headway-based control schemes to reduce bus bunching are not resilient because they cannot prevent buses from losing ground to the buses they follow when disruptions increase the gaps separating them beyond a critical value. This critical gap problem can be avoided, however, if buses at the leading end of such gaps are given information to cooperate with the ones behind by slowing down. This paper builds on this idea. It proposes an adaptive control scheme that adjusts a bus cruising speed in real-time based on both its front and rear spacings, much as if successive bus...

Safe Routes to Transit Program Evaluation Final Report

Sanders, Rebecca L.
Weinzimmer, David
Dittrich, Heidi
Cooper, Jill F.
2014

Safe Routes to Transit (SR2T) was initiated in 2004 with the adoption of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Regional Measure 2 which established a $1 increase in Bay Area bridge tolls. The intended purpose of this funding was to support various transportation projects within the region in order to reduce congestion along the seven state-owned toll bridge corridors. Consistent with this purpose, the SR2T Program was awarded $20 million to fund enhancements to increase walking and cycling to regional transit stations.SR2T funds were used for the following improvements, among others: ssecure...

Transportation Policy in Oakland: As It Is and as It Should Be

Parks, Jamie
2013

Oakland has more BART stations than any other Bay Area jurisdiction, numerous mixed-use neighborhoods, and one of the highest bike-to-work mode shares in the country. Yet, the City has failed to fully take advantage of these natural advantages, partially due to the lack of a cohesive vision for the role transportation should play in the lives of Oaklanders. Oakland passed a Complete Streets Policy in 2013 that will allow the City to consider transportation decisions from a broader perspective. The presentation will share updates on several on-going complete streets initiatives, including...

Roadway and Infrastructure Design and Its Relation to Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety: Basic Principles, Applications, and Benefits

Ragland, David R
Grembek, Offer
Orrick, Phyllis
Felschundneff, Grace
2013

Road deaths are forecast to double by 2020, with the burden falling most heavily on low- and middle-income countries and, within those countries, on the most vulnerable and poorest road users. Half of the 1.2 million people killed and 50 million injured in road crashes each year are pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and users of unsafe public transport; and more than 90 percent are from low- and middle-income countries. Because these are the areas where rapid motorization is taking place, the issue of safety in increasingly multi-modal environments is now of critical importance,...