Simulation Study Based on a Bus Route in Seoul Estimated a 19 Percent Reduction in Delays with Transit Signal Priority Implementation.
Microsimulation Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Signal Priority of Seoul’s Bus Rapid Transit with Dedicated Median Bus Lanes.
Seoul, South Korea
Progression Control Model to Enhance Performance of Transit Signal Priority
Summary Information
Transit signal priority (TSP) can play an important role in reducing congestion within multimodal road environments by enhancing bus service quality. In this study, a TSP model tailored for a multimodal setting with dedicated median bus lanes is proposed to increase bus travel speeds at signalized intersections and reduce delays for car traffic. The effectiveness of the proposed model was evaluated using Seoul’s bus rapid transit system along a 1.2-kilometer arterial segment (0.75 miles) of Cheonho-daero, which features an exclusive median bus lane, three bus stops, and three four-way intersections.
METHODOLOGY
The proposed TSP model considered a bandwidth maximization method, which aims to adjust signal timing along a corridor to maximize the progression bandwidth, was applied to the sub-areas between bus stops (BUS-SA), and the calculated bandwidth was defined as the step bandwidth. Subsequently, the adjacent BUS-SA combination optimized the corresponding bus stop offsets by minimizing bus waiting times and readjusting specific internal offsets within the BUS-SA to reduce passenger car delays. Through this optimization process, a progression model to enhance the effect of the TSP was proposed.
FINDINGS
- Results revealed an estimated 19 percent reduction in delays with proposed TSP implementation.
- The two-way average bus speed increased by approximately 13 percent, and that of passenger cars increased by 24 percent.
- The number of stops were reduced by up to 56 percent, by direction.
