2013 Session: 807

• Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram for Urban Streets and Mixed Traffic: Cross-comparison of Estimation Methods
  Abstract: In the last decade, many paper focused on describing vehicular traffic stream of an arterial on an aggregate level. Unfortunately, among this considerable body of research, only few papers account for bus systems. Our paper tries to fill this gap by investigating two potential methods to estimate macroscopic fundamental diagrams of multimodal transport systems of a signalized arterial. The first approach models endogenously motion of bus by extending the work by the moving bottleneck theory, whereas the second approach proposes to incorporate exogenously effects of buses. The estimated macroscopic fundamental diagrams are then cross-compared to results provided by micro-simulation software that finely reproduce traffic stream. It turns out that mean speeds of vehicles and buses produced by the different methods are similar and consistent. Finally, results of the three methods are expressed in terms of levels of service and confronted with the levels of service of the HCM2010.
  Authors: Xie, Xiaoyan; Chiabaut, Nicolas; Leclercq, Ludovic
  Authors: Xie, Xiaoyan; Chiabaut, Nicolas; Leclercq, Ludovic
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-0105
• Mitigating Negative Impacts of Near-Side Bus Stops on Cars
  Abstract: Bus stops are often placed short distances upstream of signalized intersections. Buses that dwell at one of these so-called near-side stops can impede queued cars upstream from discharging through the intersection during green times. Residual car queues can form at the intersection as a result. The smaller the distance between a stop and its intersection, the greater the problem can be.Models are formulated to address this problem using kinematic wave theory. The models can be used to determine where to place a near-side stop to achieve a target level of residual car queueing. In addition, the models are used herein to develop a scheme for mitigating residual car queues by briefly detaining some buses from reaching the stop. The scheme can be applied selectively, so that the times that detained buses depart from the stop are not postponed. The buses are therefore not delayed over the longer run. Analysis indicates that this bus-holding scheme can significantly reduce car delays and queueing. Our models for placing stops and holding buses are shown to be robust to systematic and random changes in car flow.
  Authors: Gu, Weihua; Cassidy, Michael J.; Gayah, Vikash V.; Ouyang, Yanfeng
  Authors: Gu, Weihua; Cassidy, Michael J.; Gayah, Vikash V.; Ouyang, Yanfeng
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-0788
• Analyzing the Impact of Illegal Parking on Performance of Arterial Curbside Bus-Only Lanes: Utilizing Bus Camera Data
  Abstract: In this paper, for the first time, recorded videos from bus cameras are used as a new type of transportation data to identify the impact of illegal parking on the performance of peak hour curbside bus-only lanes in Tokyo, Japan. We found that even a few illegally parked vehicles could still significantly influence the performance of a bus lane, especially when it is parked near a bus stop. A microscopic traffic simulation is also carried on to evaluate quantitatively the possible improving strategies, such as stricter enforcement, on the basis of the results obtained by the bus camera data.
  Authors: Wang, Rui; Nakamura, Fumihiko; Okamura, Toshiyuki; Tanaka, Shinji
  Authors: Wang, Rui; Nakamura, Fumihiko; Okamura, Toshiyuki; Tanaka, Shinji
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-1146
• Corridor Management of Large Planned Special Events: Integrated Optimization of Park-and-Ride and Bus Contraflow Measures
  Abstract: To improve the corridor efficiency during large planned special events, an integrated strategy with Park-and-ride (P&R) and bus contraflow is presented in this paper. This strategy eases the safety or performance limitations of the two congestion mitigation measures applied alone. A qualitative analysis first shows that P&R measure increases the transit demand on bus contraflow lane, while bus contraflow measure provides an express and non-congested service to P&R users. Then, a P&R facility location method is developed to search for the optimal P&R facility site. And a simulation corridor network is used to compare the performance of the proposed integrated strategy with the normal operation and the conventional P&R strategies, in four scenarios and with five groups of assumptions. The simulation results and measure of effectiveness (MOE) analysis indicate the benefits and applicability of the proposed integrated strategy.
  Authors: Hua, Jingyi; Ren, Gang; Cheng, Yang; Huang, Zhengfeng; Ran, Bin
  Authors: Hua, Jingyi; Ren, Gang; Cheng, Yang; Huang, Zhengfeng; Ran, Bin
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-2271
• An Empirical Assessment of Interactions Between Bus Rapid Transit and General Traffic Flows
  Abstract: Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a high-capacity urban public transit system with exclusive right-of-way. It is important to evaluate the interactions between BRT and general traffic flows. An empirical assessment framework is proposed to investigate traffic congestion and lane-changing patterns at one typical bottleneck along a BRT corridor by using the well-developed oblique cumulative vehicle counts (CVC) and lane changes. We extend the method that was widely applied in freeway bottleneck analyses to urban BRT corridors. The bottleneck consists of BRT bus lane, BRT station, video enforcement zone and transit signal priority (TSP) intersection. In the study site, we assume four lane-changing patterns, three of which are directly verified by the empirical measurements. We explore violating influences on both general traffic and buses. Results show that lane violations induce 16% saturation rate reduction of general traffic and 17% increase in bus travel time. Further investigations show that the BRT station and its induced increasing lane-changing maneuvers are observed to increase the downstream queue discharge flows of general traffic. The empirical results also contribute to more efficient strategies of BRT planning and operations, such as alternative enforcement methods, various lane separation types, and optimized traffic operations.Keywords: BRT; lane violations; cumulative vehicle counts (CVC); enforcement camera
  Authors: Chen, Xiqun (Michael); Li, Meng; Jiang, Han; Li, Zhiheng
  Authors: Chen, Xiqun (Michael); Li, Meng; Jiang, Han; Li, Zhiheng
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-3261
• Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram for Urban Streets and Mixed Traffic: Cross-comparison of Estimation Methods
  Authors: Chiabaut, Nicolas
  Authors: Chiabaut, Nicolas
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-0105
• Analyzing the Impact of Illegal Parking on Performance of Arterial Curbside Bus-Only Lanes: Utilizing Bus Camera Data
  Authors: Wang, Rui
  Authors: Wang, Rui
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-1146
• Mitigating Negative Impacts of Near-Side Bus Stops on Cars
  Authors: Gu, Weihua
  Authors: Gu, Weihua
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-0788
• An Empirical Assessment of Interactions Between Bus Rapid Transit and General Traffic Flows
  Authors: Chen, Xiqun (Michael)
  Authors: Chen, Xiqun (Michael)
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-3261
• Corridor Management of Large Planned Special Events: Integrated Optimization of Park-and-Ride and Bus Contraflow Measures
  Authors: Hua, Jingyi
  Authors: Hua, Jingyi
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Operations and Traffic Management
  Session: 807
  Paper Number: 13-2271