Buses Equipped with V2X Transit Signal Priority Technology Completed Their Routes an Average of 2.3 Minutes Faster than Non-equipped Buses in Utah.
Utah Transit Authority Expanded Roadside Unit Deployment to Facilitate Expanded Transit Signal Priority Capability for Route 850 in Provo and Utah County, Utah
Provo, Utah, United States
Utah Connected
Summary Information
The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) was awarded a FY 2018 Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) grant for seven projects under its Utah Connected initiative, including Transit Signal Priority (TSP). TSP facilitates the movement of buses through traffic-signal controlled intersections with the objective of reducing travel time and travel time variability. For this project, UDOT expanded its use of TSP to Utah Transit Authority Route (UTA) 850 in Provo. The goal was to improve Route 850’s on-time performance (OTP) and total travel time.
METHODOLOGY
UDOT deployed 48 connected roadside units along the Route 850 corridor and equipped 30 UTA buses with onboard units. Route 850 automatic vehicle location data were used to evaluate the impact of TSP by comparing a before (January 2, 2022 – December 31, 2022) and after period (January 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023). Not all buses running on Route 850 were equipped, allowing for additional comparison during the same post-deployment 2023 time period.
FINDINGS
- Equipped bus travel time did not improve, increasing slightly from 69.7 minutes in 2022 to 69.8 minutes. However, these buses completed the route 2.3 minutes faster, on average, than non-equipped buses (72.1 minutes).
- Equipped bus OTP improved from 86.8 to 88.1 percent. OTP worsened for non-equipped buses post TSP deployment (85.4 percent).
