Influence of Platform Height, Door Width, and Fare Collection on Bus Dwell Time

Abstract

Dwell time is the time that a public transport vehicle remains stopped while transferring passengers. Dwell time depends on the number of boarding and alighting passengers plus other characteristics, such as platform height, door width, fare collection method, internal layout of the vehicle, and occupancy of the vehicle. Traditionally, dwell time has been described as a linear function of the number of passengers boarding and alighting. In this paper, results are presented of dwell time parameters obtained from real-scale experiments made at the Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement Environment Laboratory, University College London. Three variables were controlled: platform height (0, 150, and 300 mm), door width (800 and 1,600 mm), and fare collection method (prepayment outside the vehicle and payment with an electronic card at the entrance of the vehicle). For each value of the variables mentioned above, between 15 and 20 runs were recorded on videotape with four cameras and different views. In total, 300 records of boarding and alighting processes were obtained. Some results indicate that door width has more influence than platform height. For example, it was found that a wider door can reduce the average alighting time by almost 40%, regardless of platform height, and can reduce the average boarding time by 20%. However, for the same door width, a lower platform reduces the average alighting time by only 1% to 9%. More results and analysis are reported in this paper.

The Impact of Bus Door Crowding on Operations and Safety

“…Fernandez et al (2010) discuss that the number of passengers standing before the fare collection point inside the bus affects operations and make use of a dummy variable in dwell time models for when only the door area is free for standing. Zografos and Levinson (1986) recognized the importance of having ample space in the door areas and note that "even when the bus was full, the time per boarding passenger did not increase for the first two or three passengers, because the reception space was adequate."…”

A discussion on the dwell time values at bus stops

“…özelliklerine bağlı olduğu çeşitli araştırmacılar tarafından vurgulanmıştır [4][5][6]. Levine ve Torng alçak tabanlı otobüs tasarımının yolcu iniş-biniş süresini %13~15 kısalttığı sonucuna ulaşmışlardır [7].…”

Data driven improvements in public transport: the Dutch example

“…Weidmann (1995) and Fernandez (2010) showed the impact of the number and positioning of doors in vehicles, to obtain an optimized dwell process. Vehicles and/or platforms enabling same level boarding and alighting are also of influence and the same goes for the method of ticket handling.…”