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Modelling the BRT station capacity and queuing for all stopping busway operation

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Abstract

Stations on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines ordinarily control line capacity because they act as bottlenecks. At stations with passing lanes, congestion may occur when buses maneuvering into and out of the platform stopping lane interfere with bus flow, or when a queue of buses forms upstream of the station blocking inflow. We contend that, as bus inflow to the station area approaches capacity, queuing will become excessive in a manner similar to operation of a minor movement on an unsignalized intersection. This analogy was used to treat BRT station operation and to analyze the relationship between station queuing and capacity. We conducted microscopic simulation to study and analyze operating characteristics of the station under near steady state conditions through output variables of capacity, degree of saturation and queuing. In the first of two stages, a mathematical model was developed for all stopping buses potential capacity with bus to bus interference and the model was validated. Secondly, a mathematical model was developed to estimate the relationship between average queue and degree of saturation and calibrated for a specified range of controlled scenarios of mean and coefficient of variation of dwell time.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the support of Translink Division, Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland. Further, the support of Hao Guo to develop a smart phone survey application is highly appreciated. Finally, the support of the survey team and Queensland University of Technology, Australia is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineering and Built Environment School Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

    Rakkitha Widanapathiranage, Jonathan M. Bunker & Ashish Bhaskar

Authors
  1. Rakkitha Widanapathiranage
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  2. Jonathan M. Bunker
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  3. Ashish Bhaskar
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Correspondence to Rakkitha Widanapathiranage.

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Widanapathiranage, R., Bunker, J.M. & Bhaskar, A. Modelling the BRT station capacity and queuing for all stopping busway operation. Public Transp 7, 21–38 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12469-014-0095-y

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