Factors contributing to bus lane obstruction and usage in New York City: Does design matter?

Abstract

This study quantitatively compared the effectiveness of bus lane desigas across a variety of traffic environments in New York City. The study addressed the question of whether the recent movement away from curbside lane configurations and white-marked lanes toward offset lane configurations and red-painted lanes is justified by the impacts on bus lane obstruction and usage. Because the traffic environment can heavily impact bus lane effectiveness, the exploration of the effects of design on obstruction and usage required wide sampling and regression modeling. In all, 61 bus lane segments were sampled to allow for isolation and testing of the significance of individual effects. The results of the obstruction model demonstrated the influence of environmental variables, with pedestrian volume and taxi presence significantly impacting obstruction rates. Curbsidc lanes were 1.39 times more likely to be obstructed than offset lanes (p