Dynamic Thresholds Identification for Green Extension and Red Truncation Strategies for Bus Priority

Abstract

Among the different strategies adopted to improve the efficiency and reliability of the bus services, bus signal priority is a low cost and less infrastructure- demanding solution that has the potential to reduce bus travel times in urban arterials. This paper develops analytical models for finding the thresholds for Green Extension (GE) and Red Truncation (RT) for a four-phase signal system with buses on conflicting phases. The thresholds are developed based on reducing the total person delay after considering buses from the current cycle and unserved buses from the previous cycle for priority decisions. The proposed models aim for zero-delay service for the buses from the current cycle and reducing delay for the unserved buses from the previous cycle. The models reveal that at multi-phase signals, several bus priority alternatives are possible to reduce total person delay and agencies can choose alternatives based on their requirements and constraints. These models are evaluated in VISSIM microscopic simulation environment. The evaluation results indicate a 16.7 to 42.8% reduction in total person intersection delay due to the implemented bus priority.