Road Capacity and Travel Times with Bus Lanes and Intermittent Priority Activation

Abstract

This study is focused on capacity and travel times in a signalized corridor and bus lanes with intermittent priority (BLIPs). These strategies consist of opening the bus lane to general traffic intermittently when a bus is not using it. Although the benefits of such strategies have been pointed out in the literature, the activation phase has received little attention. In an attempt to fill this gap, the activation of BLIP strategies was studied analytically. To this end, the extended kinematic wave model with bounded acceleration was chosen. BLIP activation reduced capacity and increased the travel time of buses. However, even if this strategy seems to be counterproductive at first, it clearly increases the performance of transit buses on a larger scale.