Effect of Location and Bay Length on Performance of Bus Bays – Case Study on Trivandrum City

Abstract

-Constraints to roadway capacity and congestion are at the forefront of issues which are faced by transportation professionals. These challenges along with budgetary restraints require thoughtful and innovative use of current facilities to maximize capacity. The thesis is about finding an optimum location of the bus bay which is at the downstream of a signalised intersection. Optimum location is selected by the position which minimises the queuing and disturbance to the adjacent lanes. Trivandrum city has synchronised signal systems. Since all the public transport buses follow the same route, same buses will be queued at all the intersections. Bus bay type of bus stop is constructed and separated from travel lanes and off normal section of a roadway that provides for the pickup and discharge of passengers. This design is meant to allow through traffic to flow freely without the obstruction of stopped buses. The existing bus bays do not have the facility to hold all the buses that are queued up. They interfere with the passing vehicles primarily while buses maneuverer to pull into and out of the bus bays. The queue length of the buses at the bus bay and the travel time of vehicles at the adjacent lanes are measured. Modelling is done using VISSIM software.