Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook (2020) / Chapter Skim
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From page 69... ...
69 7.1 Chapter Organization Unlike the previous six chapters, this chapter is not intended to be read from beginning to end. Rather, it is designed to be a reference tool for users to locate information on specific reliability measures and treatments that may be appropriate for the user's particular situation.
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From page 70... ...
70 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook 7.2.3 Searching for Individual Measures or Treatments For users interested in a specific reliability measure, the menu in Section 7.3.1 provides a listing of the measures that is hyperlinked to the pages describing each measure contained in Section 7.4. For users interested in a specific reliability treatment, a hyperlinked listing of the treatments is contained in the index at the end of this chapter.
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From page 71... ...
Reliability Elements and Factors Non-Operation Operator availability Vehicle availability Breakdowns Early/Late Start Insufficient recovery time Operator restroom breaks Holds for late connections Poor operational control Mechanical issue Variable Travel Speed Insufficient/excess scheduled time Too few/too many time points Overly long route Lack of adherence to time points Operator skill/behavior Delays merging into traffic from stops Incidents, special events, construction Traffic congestion Signal delay Weather Variable Dwell Times Too many stops/poorly located stops Poor transfer connections Uneven loading due to variable headway Demand in excess of capacity Variable passenger demand Fare payment delays Access for cyclists Access for mobility impaired Variable Transfer Times Insufficient recovery time Poor schedule coordination Poor route connectivity Table 7.2. Reliability treatment menu.
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From page 72... ...
72 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook 7.4.1 Measure: On-Time Performance Category On time/punctuality Orientation Agency/customer Data/Source(s) Actual arrival and departure times at terminals, time points, and bus stops obtained through AVL systems, supervisor logs, or manual data collection.
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From page 73... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 73 Insufficient/Excess Scheduled Time Operational Schedule and headway optimization Increase fleet size Technology Bus control center Real-time information systems Too Few/Too Many Time Points Operational Schedule and headway optimization Overly Long Route Operational Limited-stop service Route network adjustments Divide very long routes Schedule and headway optimization Physical Dedicated transitways and bus lanes Technology Traffic signal optimization Transit signal priority Traffic Congestion Operational Route network adjustments Divide very long routes Schedule and headway optimization Coordinating schedules at transfer points Route contingency plans Enhanced route operational control Physical Dedicated transitways and bus lanes Queue-jump lanes Technology Bus control center Transit signal priority Policy Yield-to-bus laws Bus-on-shoulder operation Lack of Adherence to Time Points Operational Schedule and headway optimization Operator training, incentives, and monitoring Technology Bus control center Operator Skill/Behavior Operational Operator training, incentives, and monitoring Delays Merging into Traffic from Stops Operational Limited-stop service Bus stop consolidation Right-sizing bus stops Coordinate with traffic and parking enforcement Physical Dedicated transitways and bus lanes Far-side stop placement Curb extensions at bus stops Physical Coordinate with roadway agencies to incorporate bus-supportive features Policy Yield-to-bus laws Table 7.5. Treatments for variable travel speed.
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From page 74... ...
74 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook Incidents, Special Events, Construction Operational Enhanced route operational control Introduce standby buses Route contingency plans Coordinate with roadway agencies to anticipate construction impacts Technology Bus control center Real-time information systems Traffic Congestion Operational Enhanced route operational control Introduce standby buses Route network adjustments Divide very long routes Schedule and headway optimization Route contingency plans Coordinate with traffic and parking enforcement Physical Dedicated transitways and bus lanes Queue-jump lanes Coordinate with roadway agencies to incorporate bus-supportive features Technology Traffic signal optimization Transit signal priority Policy Yield-to-bus laws Bus-on-shoulder operation Signal Delay Operational Coordinate with traffic and parking enforcement Physical Dedicated transitways and bus lanes Queue-jump lanes Far-side stop placement Coordinate with roadway agencies to incorporate bus-supportive features Technology Traffic signal optimization Transit signal priority Weather Operational Enhanced route operational control Route contingency plans Table 7.5. (Continued)
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From page 75... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 75 Too Many Stops/Poorly Located Stops Operational Limited-stop service Bus Stop Consolidation Right-sizing bus stops Physical Coordinate with roadway agencies to incorporate bus-supportive features Poor Transfer Connections Operational Schedule and headway optimization Increase fleet size Physical Coordinate with roadway agencies to incorporate bus-supportive features Uneven Loading Due to Variable Headway Operational Enhanced route operational control Schedule and headway optimization Physical Dedicated transitways and bus lanes Technology Transit signal priority Policy Boarding limits Demand in Excess of Capacity Operational Schedule and headway optimization Increase fleet size Physical Articulated buses Policy Boarding limits Variable Passenger Demand Operational Introduce standby buses Right-sizing bus stops Schedule and headway optimization Increase fleet size Physical Level boarding and low-floor buses Articulated buses Technology Transit signal priority Policy Boarding limits Fare Payment Delays Physical Coordinate with roadway agencies to incorporate bus-supportive features Technology Fare innovations for dwell time improvements Policy Boarding limits Public education Access for Cyclists Operational Enhanced route operational control Right-sizing bus stops Route contingency plans Physical Level boarding and low-floor buses Articulated buses Physical Coordinate with roadway agencies to incorporate bus-supportive features Policy Boarding limits Public education Access for Mobility Impaired Operational Right-sizing bus stops Route contingency plans Increase fleet size Physical Level boarding and low-floor buses Articulated buses Coordinate with roadway agencies to incorporate bus-supportive features Policy Public education Table 7.6. Treatments for variable dwell time.
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From page 76... ...
76 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook Much of the debate surrounding the measurement of on-time performance since the early 1990s has revolved around the definition of this window. As evidenced by the survey conducted for this project, buses departing no more than 5 minutes late has become the most common late standard for on-time performance across much of North America and in the UK (see Figure 7.1)
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From page 77... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 77 also help maintain schedule reliability farther down a route and reduce holding delay at time points for passengers already on the bus. On-time performance standards can be applied at the start and end of a route or at intermediate time points.
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From page 78... ...
78 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook the data. Without AVL/APC, the data are more limited and can be expensive to obtain for many destinations.
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From page 79... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 79 usually easy to report. Without AVL/APC, the data are more limited and can be moderately expensive to obtain.
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From page 80... ...
80 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook distinguish between the different components of running time when considering the reliability of service. APC systems can distinguish the time that the door is open from the time that the door is closed.
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From page 81... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 81 system, a measure such as the percentage of trip travel times within a specified relative range of the mean (for example, within +25 percent of the mean) would be used, applied to the O/D ridership, and summed for the system.
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From page 82... ...
82 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook from one origin stop, or set of stops, to a set of destination stops, over a given period. Next, AVL data are used to estimate the travel time for a sample of O/D pairs over a period.
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From page 83... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 83 Analysis High variability indicates bus bunching or long gaps in service. Use of the coefficient of variation or a percentage within a relative range allows comparisons between routes with different headways.
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From page 84... ...
84 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook 7.4.7 Measure: Customer Wait Time Variability Category Wait time variability Orientation Customer Data/Source(s) Headways (time between consecutive buses on a route or corridor)
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From page 85... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 85 comparison of different origin/destination patterns within an agency or between agencies. Comparisons are possible to nontransit modes.
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From page 86... ...
86 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook 7.4.9 Measure: Missed Hours of Service Category Operation Orientation Operator Data/Source(s) Dispatcher reports, supervisor logs, and schedules Calculation The number of hours of service is determined from agency reports and divided by the number of scheduled hours of service, either for a route or system wide, for a particular period.
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From page 87... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 87 Usage The measure of cancelled trips is most commonly examined at the system level and route level and, somewhat less commonly, at the trip level. Evaluation The measure of canceled trips does not directly address most definitions of reliability that are customer oriented since it only indirectly measures customer impacts.
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From page 88... ...
88 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook Transit Comparisons very good Multimodal Comparisons good Corrective Actions good Communicating Results fair 7.4.12 Measure: Mean Distance Between Failures Category Operation Orientation Operator Data/Source(s) Maintenance reports and reports of scheduled miles or hours of service.
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From page 89... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 89 measure reliability, it is customers' perceptions of reliability that affect their travel choices. Passenger ratings provide insight into customers' perceptions of reliability rather than measure reliability directly.
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From page 90... ...
90 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook • The real-time deadheading strategy directs bus operators to terminate their trip mid-route and immediately head to a time point or terminal or to leave a terminal empty and run express to a time point farther downstream. This treatment must be handled by supervision or a command center; it should not be initiated by bus operators.
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From page 91... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 91 Causes of Unreliability Addressed: Non-operation, early/late start Companion Treatments: Enhanced route operational control Treatment Trade-Offs: There can be trade-offs between scheduling a bus and operator as part of the regular schedule to offer higher frequency of service versus holding a bus and operator in reserve to be used to improve reliability. Expected Effect: Moderate; can effectively address unexpected gaps/delays in service Capital Cost: None Operating Cost: There is a cost for keeping a bus and bus operator on standby.
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From page 92... ...
92 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook Treatment Trade-Offs: Customers traveling longer distances and customers traveling between principal bus stops will benefit from limited-stop service. However, customers traveling between lightly used local bus stops will see less-frequent service.
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From page 93... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 93 7.5.6 Operational Treatment: Right-Sizing Bus Stops Description: Particularly in downtown areas where curb space is scarce, some transit agencies are forced to operate with bus stops that are too short to accommodate the number of buses that call there. When bus stops are too short, dwell times increase dramatically; even worse, however, is when buses cannot get to the curb at all, and customers must board from the street.
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From page 94... ...
94 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook 7.5.7 Operational Treatment: Route Network Adjustments Description: There are minor route or network changes that could be implemented to improve system performance. These changes could be minor adjustments to address spot issues.
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From page 95... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 95 Through simulation and a case study of the Land Transport Authority in Singapore, Lee et al.
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From page 96... ...
96 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook dissatisfaction. An analysis of the Translink system in Brisbane, Australia, showed that the route segments found to be at highest risk for reliability incidents were long, highly productive bus segments [34]
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From page 97... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 97 Expected Effect: Varying; could be detrimental to bus operations but positive on the predictability of travel times for customers Capital Cost: None Operating Cost: Holding buses at transit centers could result in a minor increase in operating costs. Ease of Implementation: Easy; this is an administrative action, which is easy to implement.
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From page 98... ...
98 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook 7.5.12 Operational Treatment: Route Contingency Plans Description: Route contingency plans address temporal disruptions such as crashes, weather, and special events. Contingency plans are processes that can be applied from the stop to the agency level.
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From page 99... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 99 Treatment Trade-Offs: Buying additional buses to improve vehicle availability involves tradeoffs with maintenance efforts and costs. A bigger fleet means more buses to maintain.
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From page 100... ...
100 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook can employ one or more treatments, such as executing route contingency plans, increasing operational controls during the construction period, introducing standby buses, and increasing the attention given to affected routes by bus control center personnel. Causes of Unreliability Addressed: Excessive running time, on-time performance, travel time variability Companion Treatments: Enhanced route operational control, introduce standby buses, route contingency plans, more effective use of bus control center Treatment Trade-Offs: Increased administrative coordination activities, which may vary with the number of jurisdictions involved Expected Effect: Low Capital Cost: None Operating Cost: Minor increase to cover coordination activities Ease of Implementation: Easy to medium 7.5.16 Operational Treatment: Coordinate with Traffic and Parking Enforcement Description: Coordination with the appropriate departments that are tasked with enforcing traffic and parking regulations can lead to more effective enforcement targeted to motorist behaviors that are impeding bus service.
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From page 101... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 101 time reduction allows the transit agency to deliver more trips per time, thereby reducing the scheduled headway. Addressing travel time variability helps reduce the uncertainty in bus arrival times at bus stops, which relates to passenger waiting time.
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From page 102... ...
102 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook strategies [43]
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From page 103... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 103 Causes of Unreliability Addressed: Variable travel speed Companion Treatments: Dedicated transitways and bus lanes, bus-on-shoulder operation, transit signal priority Treatment Trade-Offs: Few negative effects. The treatment must be designed so as not to impair pedestrian crossings in the intersection.
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From page 104... ...
104 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook $1 million per stop if utility locations are required. Outside of downtown areas, building a bus stop with level boarding is significantly easier and less costly.
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From page 105... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 105 Expected Effect: Minor; could generate some reliability improvements, but overall travel times could increase. Capital Cost: There is a significant capital cost for the new bus fleet and parts inventory.
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From page 106... ...
106 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook Treatment Trade-Offs: The trade-offs typically involve neighborhood opposition. The only solution is to have bus operators avoid excess noise and unsocial behaviors.
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From page 107... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 107 without pulling to the curb and then back out into moving traffic, thereby reducing delays and improving reliability. In addition, if street conditions permit, the extension can be built to a height of 10 inches or even 13 inches to allow for truly level boarding, thus further reducing dwell time.
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From page 108... ...
108 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook Companion Treatments: Bus stop consolidation, right-sizing bus stops, queue-jump lanes, right-sized terminals and layovers, far-side stop placement, curb extensions at bus stops, traffic signal optimization, transit signal priority Treatment Trade-Offs: Increased administrative coordination activities Expected Effect: High Capital Cost: None for coordination activities. Construction costs may be only moderate if elements can be integrated with roadway reconstructions and improvements.
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From page 109... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 109 Capital Cost: Where a working bus command center is in place, making better use of the facility will involve little if any capital cost. If a transit agency does not have command center, then the capital cost of establishing one would be significant since it involves setting up a network radio system as well as building a physical space for the command center.
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From page 110... ...
110 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook Research has demonstrated the potential for TSP to improve transit running times and reliability in several cases. Signal preemption is more effective than active TSP but causes much greater disruption to general traffic on intersecting streets.
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From page 111... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 111 About 32 percent of this group had used an actuated signal phase, with 86 percent reporting successful results and 14 percent (or one agency) reporting mixed results.
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From page 112... ...
112 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook 7.5.28 Technological Treatment: Real-Time Information Systems Description: With AVL on buses, transit agencies can track their vehicles in real time. From the survey conducted for this project, 78 percent of transit agencies indicated that they used AVL technology to track their vehicles.
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From page 113... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 113 Operating Cost: Maintaining, using, and analyzing data require trained personnel. Many agencies have underestimated the complexity of deploying such systems.
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From page 114... ...
114 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook The replacement of flash passes by smart-card fare payment increased running times on a bus route in Montreal, Quebec, by 52.61 seconds per trip by the end of the implementation period [56]
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From page 115... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 115 Ease of Implementation: Difficult. It is not easy to implement a new fare collection system.
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From page 116... ...
116 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook 7.5.32 Policy Treatment: Bus-on-Shoulder Operation Description: Bus-on-shoulder (BOS) operation is a strategy where buses operate on the shoulder of a limited-access roadway or arterial road to speed buses around congested roadway segments.
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From page 117... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 117 Causes of Unreliability Addressed: Non-operation, early/late start Companion Treatments: Increase fleet size Treatment Trade-Offs: Requires some expertise in the use of vehicle diagnostic systems and monitoring of vehicle performance data Expected Effect: Moderate. Ultimately there is no substitute for an effective maintenance program.
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From page 118... ...
118 Minutes Matter: A Bus Transit Service Reliability Guidebook Expected Effect: Minor system-wide, but moderate where overcrowding is a regular event. Limiting crowding on buses will improve reliability and travel time.
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From page 119... ...
Bus Transit Reliability Menus 119 Treatment O pe ra tio na l Enhanced route operational control Introduce standby buses Introduce scheduled short turns Limited-stop service Bus stop consolidation Right-sizing bus stops Route network adjustments Divide very long bus routes Schedule and headway optimization Coordinate schedules at transfer points Bus operator training, incentives, and monitoring Route contingency plans Increase fleet size Employ more full-time bus operators Coordinate with roadway agencies to anticipate construction impacts Coordinate with traffic and parking enforcement Ph ys ic al Dedicated transitways and bus lanes Queue-jump lanes Level boarding and low-floor buses Articulated buses Right-sized terminals and layovers Far-side stop placement Curb extensions at bus stops Coordinate with roadway agencies to incorporate bus-supportive features Te ch no lo gy More effective use of bus control center Traffic signal optimization Transit signal priority Real-time information systems Fare innovations for dwell time Improved customer communications Po lic y Yield-to-bus laws Bus-on-shoulder operation Reliability-based fleet maintenance Boarding limits Public education Index of reliability treatments.
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