Effects of Bus Stop Design on Suburban Arterial Operations

When choosing the location and design for a particular bus stop, several alternatives are available. These alternatives include near-side, far-side, or midblock locations, and curbside or bus bay designs. Several studies have focused on choosing the optimum location of a bus stop for given situations; however, few have investigated the effects of bus stop design. The objective is to use computer simulation to determine how bus stop design influences traffic operations around a bus stop. Bus stop designs analyzed included curbside, bus bay, open bus bay, and queue jumper. The results can be used to aid in the selection of a preferred bus stop design for a given location and traffic volume. The analysis was divided into two separate studies: curbside versus bus bay/open bus bay, and queue jumper versus no queue jumper. The analysis consisted of investigating the relationships between variables such as travel time, speed, and traffic volume for given bus stop designs and locations. The bus stop locations investigated in the curbside–bus bay/open bus bay study included midblock and far-side. Results indicated that the bus bay design provided the greatest benefit at traffic volumes of approximately 350 vehicles per hour per lane (vphpl) and above; however, notable advantages in vehicle speeds were also observed at 250 vphpl. Results from the queue jumper study revealed that the queue jumper design provided significant benefits at volumes above approximately 250 vphpl.