Public transport priority at traffic signals: Results of European collaborative study

Hounsell, N.B., Farges, J.L., Fox, K., Friedrich, B. and Di Taranto, C. (1996) Public transport priority at traffic signals: Results of European collaborative study. In Intelligent Transportation: Realizing the Future. Proceedings of the Third Annual World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, 14-18 October 1996, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida, USA. Intelligent Transportation Society of America..

Abstract

Many City Authorities in Europe are now seeking to tackle increasing congestion and pollution through demand management and improved public transport. An important contribution to this strategy is the provision of public transport priority, both through physical segregation and other priority techniques. This paper concentrates on the provision of public transport priority in advanced Urban Traffic Control (UTC) systems in Europe. In particular, the paper will report on the results of a cross-project collaborative study into public transport priority, commissioned by ERTICO, to draw together results from the DRIVE II projects in this increasingly important telematics application area. The paper provides summary descriptions of the advanced UTC systems concerned, their facilities for public transport priority and the evaluations undertaken in DRIVE II. The systems include SCOOT, UTOPIA, PRODYN and BALANCE. Following a review of system measures of performance and impacts, results of some twenty simulation and/or field trial evaluations are summarized. These were included in five DRIVE II projects and covered eight European cities. Results include operational, environmental and economic effects, as well as impacts on modal change, where recorded. The paper also references the analyses undertaken in the collaborative study to fully evaluate the contexts in which the results were obtained. Context descriptions, including network, traffic, public transport and control strategy characteristics formed an essential basis for the interpretation of results and for the determination of key factors affecting public transport priority performance. The paper concludes with a summary of recommendations from the study, particularly concerning greater integration of public transport and UTC systems, which can provide substantial benefits.

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