Dwell Time Analysis and Priority Granting for Bus Service in Budapest

Abstract

Public transport has always been a structuring factor in urban development and form. Buses, which are one of the essential public services, do not require expensive infrastructure, can be introduced quickly and run as frequently as necessary to meet the demand. Budapest is known by the diversity of its transportation modes and their high frequency, nevertheless, it still faces traffic congestion issues. Thus, the priority granting for the buses is essential to minimize the travel time delays.This research analysis investigates the bus service's situation on the chosen corridor based on personal data collection in peak-hours at the bus stops and on-board using GPS tracker. This research aims to study the dwelling bus’s impact on car delays and targets to optimize the situation by implementing bus priority. The iterative models coded with Octave calculates the vehicles’ delays function of the arrival time and dwelling time of the bus and analyses all scenarios depending on the time the bus is ready to leave the stop and adjusting it by either holding the bus at bus stops or allowing an immediate departure with speed adjustment or green light extension. The objective of the proposed priority model is not only to minimize the bus delays, but also the average vehicle delays on the different branches of the intersection. The prioritization system takes into consideration the non-violation of the maximum holding time, maximum green time extension and maximum red time in the intersection’s branches where the bus stop exists.