Evaluation of Bus Bulbs on Transit, Traffic, and Pedestrian Operations.

摘要

Bus bulbs are a section of sidewalk that extends from the curb of a parking lane to the edge of the through lane. A major advantage of using bus bulbs is the creation of additional space at a bus stop for shelters, benches, and other bus patron improvements when the inclusion of these amenities would otherwise be limited without the additional space. The primary motivators for installing bus bulbs are to reduce congestion on sidewalks and to eliminate the bus-weaving maneuver into a bus bay stop. Bus bulbs are appropriate at sites with high patron volumes along crowded city sidewalks and where parking along the curb is permitted. An evaluation of pedestrian operations found that the average amount of available space for pedestrians and transit patrons improved after the bulb had been constructed. Vehicle and bus speeds also increased on the block and in the corridor. The average delay to buses attempting to re-enter the travel stream was constant from the before to after period at the farside stop. The nearside stop, which experienced higher delays to buses, saw a reduction in the average delay with the installation of the bus bulb.