CHAPTER 12: TRANSIT OPERATIONS

12.1 ROUTE PLANNING

Route Planning for bus systems is a dynamic process that involves constant
reexamination of the details of route location, stop location, and route schedules.
Changes to bus service are often made as a result of periodic reviews conducted as part of
an ongoing monitoring process, but they may also occur at irregular intervals due to:
Public pressure
Construction of new traffic generators
Changes to transportation system
Changes in public policies

12.2 ROUTE LOCATION

Route Location involves decisions about the overall configuration of the transit network,
the spacing of routes, and their detailed locations.

CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSIT SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

Radial-concentric
Grid
Multicentered

Detailed route location is based on a number of considerations:

1. Concentrations of transit users
Possible user concentrations include apartment buildings, areas with high
percentages of elderly or poor residents, schools, arenas and stadiums, major employment
areas (especially those with low-income jobs), and shopping malls.

2. Suitability of the streets involved for bus traffic

Streets need to be evaluated in terms of geometry, structural characteristics, and
traffic conditions.

Evaluation Process:
Review of street plans
Investigation of traffic conditions
Field studies

Geometric Conditions include horizontal curve radii, street widths, intersection

geometry, and grades.
Structural Concerns usually involve the adequacy of pavements but may also include
load limits for bridges or other structures.
Traffic control-related issues include traffic congestion, other adverse conditions, and
provision of bus preference measures.

Bus Preference Measures:

Signal overrides are accomplished by special radio or photoelectric devices that
enable buses to preempt the green at traffic signals.
Special lanes are sometimes provided by dedicating the curb lane for an extended
distance.
Transit Streets or Transit Malls
 12.3 STOP LOCATION

Stop Location Principles

1. The number of stops actually made is not identical with the number of designated stop
locations.
2. The number of stops made does tend to increase as the number of stop locations
increases.

Stop Spacing. It is based on tradeoff between walking distances for passengers and the
increase in bus travel time that occurs each time the bus is stopped.

Clearance time. It is the time spend in decelerating and accelerating the vehicle and in
opening and closing the doors.
Table 1.0 Values of R
R Queueing Probability
0.400 1% Dwell time. It is the time spend loading and unloading
0.667 10% passengers.
0.883 30%
Considerations in determining stop locations
1. Decisions must be made as to the relationship of the stop to intersections in the vicinity
a. Far-Side Bus Stop. The bus stops immediately after passing through an
intersection.
a. Near-Side Bus Stop. The bus stops immediately prior to an intersection.
b. Midblock Bus Stop. Table 2.0 Common values of dwell time
The bus stops within Event s / passenger
the block. Unloading under normal conditions 1.5 2.5
Boarding (Prepaid fares) 1.5 2.5
Boarding (Farebox systems) 2.0 3.0
Boarding (Exact fare systems) 3.0
2. Provision of access to user concentrations
3. Safety
4. Convenience for transferring passengers

Issues involved in designing a bus stop

1. Size of a single berth
a. Bus berths. These are designated areas for buses to pull over and load and
unload passengers in major transit facilities such as a transit center or park-and-
ride facility.
2. Number of berths required

Chapter 12 of the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) gives an extensive treatment of bus
stop capacity. It suggests that the overall capacity of a single berth is

g
C =
( C)
3600 R
B
g
t +( ) D
C
C
where: CB = berth capacity

( Cg ) = ratio of green time to total time for traffic signal

R = reductive factor to compensate for dwell time and arrival variations

tC = clearance time
D = dwell time
Where there are multiple berths, efficiency tends to decline. For the common case in
which busses can overtake each other, use of the second berth will be about 85% of that of the
first berth, and that of the third berth will be about 75% of that first. Where overtaking is not
allowed, these figures decline to 75% and 50% respectively.

Example No 1. A bus route on a city street is scheduled for 2-min headways. On the average, 7
passengers per bus board at a particular stop and 10 passengers alight. All boarding
passengers use the front door and all alighting passengers use the back door. Fare collection is
exact fare and farebox, but not single coin. Assume clearance time is 15s and that the maximum
allowable probability of bus queueing is 1%. The stop is a near side stop at an intersection with
a (g/C) ratio of 0.50. How many berths are required?

Solution:

Number of busses:
60 min/h
N= =30 buses /h
2 min/bus

Clearance and dwell times: t C =15 s

Dwell time:
Boarding: 7 pass 3.0 s/ pass=21 s
Alighting: 10 pass 2.5 s / pass=25 s
Therefore, 25s governs

Reductive factor: 0.400

0.50 3600 0.400
C B= =26 buses /h
15+ 0.50 25
26 buses/h < 30 buses/h: Therefore, we need more than 1 berth. Try 2 berths
C2 B=26 1.75=45 buses /h
45 buses/h > 30 buses/h:
Therefore, use 2 berths
12.4 ROUTE SCHEDULES

Route Schedules. Also knows as timetables, give the time that successive buses pass points
called time points. They are most commonly constructed by maintaining approximately uniform
headways among successive vehicles during periods of time known as schedule blocks.

12.4.1 Headways. They are influenced by the demand for service, with the shortest headway
being maintained during busiest periods.

Classification of headways
1. Capacity Headways. Headways such that the vehicles are just filled at the maximum
load point on the route.

ML
h=
rP

where:
h = headway
M = bus seating capacity
L = maximum acceptable average load factor
P = total patronage for the route in passengers per hour
r = ratio of maximum load to passengers per trip

2. Policy Headways. Headways that are intended to represent the minimum acceptable
standard for frequency of service.

3. Total Cost Minimum Headways. Headways that minimize the sum of the operating
costs and the value of time spent by passengers waiting for service

h=
2 O
W P
where:
O = operating cost per vehicle hour of operation
= cycle time
W = value of passengers waiting time in dollars/hour
P = total patronage for the route in passengers per hour

Example No 2. An urban bus route has a patronage of 500 passengers per hour and a cycle
time of 2.5h. It is operated with buses having a seating capacity of 50 passengers. The
operating cost is $60/bus-h and the transit operator believes that passengers value waiting time
at $10/h. The ratio of maximum load to the total number of passengers boarding is 0.60 and the
operators maximum load factor standard is 1.20. Determine the capacity headway, the
headway that minimizes the sum of operating costs and passengers time cost, and the actual
headway to be operated. All headways are to be rounded off to the nearest minute.
Solution:

Capacity headway:
ML (50)(1.20)(60)
h= = =12 mins
rP (0.60)(500)

Total cost minimum headway:

h=
2 O
W P
=

2 ( 60 )( 2.5 )
( 10 ) (500 )
60

h=14.7 15 mins

Since the capacity headway is less than the headway minimizing the sum of the
operating costs and the passengers time cost, the buses will be overloaded if the latter is used.
Use the capacity headway

Therefore, h = 12mins

Bus services is very important to public commuters. This kind of mass transportation system
gives ease to people, lessens traffic, and requires smaller fare. Whats interesting in bus
services is that, aside from they have proper route, approximately, they come in equal time
intervals which will be discussed later on. If you want to be an owner of a bus line, you need to
coordinate with the government to ensure that you are following of how does the transportation
engineer designed the stop locations, route schedules, and headways.

12.4.2 Constructing Timetables

Once headways are determined for each schedule block, the actual route timetable can
be constructed. The simplest case is that in which there are constant average travel times on
each route segment, uniform headways, and no interchange of vehicles among routes. Under
these conditions, there is a constant cycle time, the number of vehicles serving the route must
be an integer, and the cycle time must be an integral multiple of the headway. Note that if the
segment travel times vary in a nonrandom fashion, as they might as traffic congestion increases
or decreases on the route, or if vehicles are interchanged among routes, these constraints do
not apply. In the case in which travel times are changing, it may not be possible to maintain
uniform headways, except at the dispatch point. Where vehicles are interchanged among
routes, fleet sizes for individual routes do not have integers, and total cycle do not have to be
integral multiples of the headways.

Where the conditions outlined above do apply, schedules may be determined by the
following process. First, time points are established and the average travel time is determined
for all route segments between time points are established and the average travel time is
determined for all route segments between time points. Note that even though vehicles traveling
in opposite directions most often use the same streets, travel times in opposing directions may
be different, so that separate travel times should be determined from A to B and B to A. In
practice, travel times for routes that are not yet in existence must be established roughly from
driving times, with allowances made for time spent picking up and discharging passengers.
Where schedules for existing routes are being adjusted, travel times may be observed directly.

Given a headway and travel time, the cycle time and number of vehicles needed to
operate the route may be determined. The cycle time will consist of the sum of the travel times
on the individual route segments, minimum layovers required to dampen variations in running
time and provide work breaks for drivers, and excess layover needed to make the cycle an
integral multiple of the headway. That is,

=T +t L
T = t i+t l
t l =max ( t , t w )

Where:

ti = travel time on segment i

t L = excess layover time
tl = minimum layover required
t w = layover required to provide work breaks for drivers; this will often be established
as part of a labor agreement, and may be stated as either a fixed time or a fraction of the
cycle or travel time
t = layover required to dampen variations in travel times so as to ensure that
vehicles returning from the route are dispatched on time for their next trip

Then, from Equation (12.3) and the requirement that the number of vehicles be an integer,

N=nhint ( Th )
Where nhint( ) indicates that the quantity in parentheses is to be rounded up to the next
highest integer, and

t L =NhT

Then, given the dispatch time (or time passing any point) for any vehicle in the schedule, the
entire schedule can be determined.

EXAMPLE PROBLEM: Construct a bus route schedule based on the running times given below.
Headways are 30 min and minimum layovers are 7 min at each end or 10 percent of running
time (total both layovers), whichever is greater. The first bus from A to D should leave at 8:00
am. The schedule should cover the time block from 8:00am to 12:00 noon.
Segment Travel Times

Segment Travel time, min

A-B 20
B-C 15
C-D 40
D-C 38
C-B 18
B-A 22
ti = 20 + 15 + 40 + 38 + 18 +22 = 153 min
t w = (2)(7 min) = 14 min
t = (0.10)(153 min) = 15.3 min
t l =max ( t , t w ) = max ( 15.3,14) = 15.3 min
T = 153 + 15.3 = 168.3 min

N=nhint ( 168.3
30 ) = nhint ( 5.6 ) = 6 vehicles

= (6)(30) = 180 min

t L = 180 168.3 = 11.7 min
tl + t L = 15.3 + 11.7 = 27 min Total layover, both terminals

Use 14-min layover at A and 13 min at B. (Note: any combination between 7 min at A and 20
min at B and 20 min at A and 7 min at B is acceptable)

Schedule:

Bus A B C D
1 8:00 8:20 8:35 9:15
2 8:30 8:50 9:05 9:45
3 9:00 9:20 9:35 10:15
4 9:30 9:50 10:05 10:45
5 10:00 10:20 10:35 11:15
6 10:30 10:50 11:05 11:45
1 11:00 11:20 11:35 12:15
2 11:30 11:50 12:05 12:45
3 12:00 12:20 12:35 1:15
 Bus A B C D
4 7:58 8:36 8:54 9:16
5 8:28 9:06 9:24 9:46
6 8:58 9:36 9:54 10:16
1 9:28 10:06 10:24 10:46
2 9:58 10:36 10:54 11:16
3 10:28 11:06 11:24 11:46
4 10:58 11:36 11:54 12:16
5 11:28 12:06 12:24 12:46
6 11:58 12:36 12:54 1:16

12.4.3 Branch Route Schedules

Figure 12.2

Many bus systems also operate branch routes in

which all vehicles traverse a portion of the route
(known as the trunk) and then split up to follow
two or more branches. The usual motive for
using branch routes is that demand is often less
in outlying areas than near the city center. By
branching route, the transit system is able to
increase coverage (at the expense of the
frequency of service on the branches) with fewer
vehicles than otherwise. Uniform headways are
usually maintained on the trunk portion of the
route, but it is generally impractical to provide
them on the branches. Branch route scheduling
is complicated by the need for vehicle returning from the branches to merge smoothly at the
merge point. This may be accomplished by adjusting layovers at the branch terminals. Figure
12.2 is a space-time diagram showing a branch route schedule. Note that although the vehicles
using the branches B to C and B to D are actually following different routes, in the space-time
diagram their trajectories may be superimposed on one another to show how the branches
merge back together.

12.5 VEHICLE AND LABOR SCHEDULE

Blocking Process of determining vehicle schedules.
Runcutting The process of determining labor schedules
Deadheading Movement of vehicles that are not in revenue service
Piece of Work Consist of a combination of route and time period to which a driver can be
assigned
Runs Combined pieces of work

Types of shifts:
Straight Shift Straight runs / all pieces of work are continuous
Split Shift Pieces of work are not continuous; there are unpaid breaks
Trippers Extra board drivers having irregular trips that are not included in the schedule
Shakeup Reconstruction of runs
Spread Total time from the beginning to end of workday
Guarantee Payment with total work hours of less than 8 hours
Premium Pay
Overtime Holiday Pay Day-off Pay
12.6 CONTROL OF OPERATIONS
Major needs for real-time control:

Emergencies
Routine mistakes
Coordination of transfers
Schedule instability
Responsibilities of Dispatchers
Ensuring that vehicles are dispatched at the beginning of the day
Assigning extra board drivers to runs whose regular drivers fail to report
Dispatching trippers
Ordering schedule deviations
Responsibilities of Field Inspectors
Making sure that drivers do not run ahead of schedule
Dealing with equipment failures and other emergencies on the field
Train controls by means of automatic system:

Automatic train detection

Automatic speed control
Automatic dispatching
Automatic berthing and door control at stations
Major issues in the real-time control of bus systems:

Transfer coordination
Prevention of vehicle bunching
12.7 ROUTE EVALUATION

Common Performance Indicators Public input

includes:

Total ridership for the route

Average demand past the maximum
Where deficiencies are noted, corrective
point
action will be done like:
Overloading
Rerouting
Revenue collected on the route
Rescheduling
Estimated cost of operating the route
Special Marketing Efforts
Fare box recovery ratio
Modified Dispatching Policies
On-time performance
 Elimination of Service