Mixed traffic flow modeling near Chinese bus stops and its applications

To determine how bus stop design influences mixed traffic operation near Chinese bus stops,a new theoretical method was developed by using additive-conflict-flows procedure.The procedure was extended from homogeneous traffic flow to mixed traffic flow.Based on the procedure and queuing theory,car capacity and speed models were proposed for three types of bus stops including curbside,bus bay and bicycle detour.The effects of various combinations of bus stop type,traffic volume,bus dwell time,and berth number on traffic operations were investigated.The results indicate that traffic volume,bus dwell time and berth number have negative effects on traffic operations for any type of bus stops.For different types of bus stops,at car volumes above approximately 200 vehicles per hour,the bus bay and bicycle detour designs provide more benefits than the curbside design.As traffic volume increases,the benefit firstly increases in uncongested conditions and then decreases in congested conditions.It reaches the maximum at car volumes nearly 1 100 vehicles per hour.The results can be used to aid in the selection of a preferred bus stop design for a given traffic volume in developing countries.

A New Macro Model for Traffic Flow on a Highway with Bus Stop

Based on the difference between the online bus stop and the offline bus stop, two macro models are developed to describe the two types of bus stops. The numerical results show that the two models can qualitatively reproduce some complex phenomena resulted by the two types of bus stops and that the otttine bus stop is more effective than the online bus stop when the initial density is relatively low.

Influence of bus stop with left-turn lines between two adjacent signalized intersections

Based on the symmetric two-lane Nagel–Schreckenberg（STNS） model, a three-lane cellular automaton model between two intersections containing a bus stop with left-turning buses is established in which model the occurrences of vehicle accidents are taken into account. The characteristics of traffic flows with different ratios of left-turn lines are discussed via the simulation experiments. The results indicate that the left-turn lines have more negative effects on capacity,accident rate as well as delay if the stop is located close to the intersections, where the negative effect in a near-side stop is more severe than that in a far-side one. The range of appropriate position for a bus stop without the bottleneck effect becomes more and more narrow with the increase of the ratio of left-turn bus lines. When the inflow is small, a short signal cycle and a reasonable offset are beneficial. When the inflow reaches or exceeds the capacity, a longer signal cycle is helpful. But if the stop position is inappropriate, the increase of cycle fails in reducing the negative effect of left-turning buses and the effectiveness of offset is weakened.

Combined Effect of Bus Stop and Access on Expressway Capacity

To determinate the combined effect of bus bay stops near access points on the expressway capacity,a new theoretical approach is developed on the basis of gap acceptance theory and queuing theory. According to the location between the bus stop and the access upstream or downstream,the capacity models on the expressway are developed for four cases. The results show that there are no significant differences in the capacity among four cases when the bus arrival rate is less than 60 veh / h and the car volume at the entrance and exit is less than 200 pcu / h. As the bus arrival rate and the car volume at the entrance and exit increase,the bus stops at downstream of an entrance and upstream of an exit have remarkable effect on the capacity. The increasing of berth number of the bus stop has a positive effect on the capacities of four cases.

Combined bottleneck effect of on-ramp and bus stop in a cellular automaton model

The combined bottleneck effect is investigated by modeling traffic systems with an on-ramp and a nearby bus stop in a two-lane cellular automaton model. Two cases, i.e. the bus stop locates in the downstream section of the on-ramp and the bus stop locates in the upstream section of the on-ramp, are considered separately. The upstream flux and downstream flux of the main road, as well as the on-ramp flux are analysed in detail, with respect to the entering probabilities and the distance between the on-ramp and the bus stop. It is found that the combination of the two bottlenecks causes the capacity to drop off, because the vehicles entering the main road from the on-ramp would interweave with the stopping （pulling-out） buses in the downstream （upstream） case. The traffic conflict in the former case is much heavier than that in the latter, causing the downstream main road to be utilized inefficiently. This suggests that the bus stop should be set in the upstream section of the on-ramp to enhance the capacity. The fluxes both on the main road and on the on-ramp vary with the distance between the two bottlenecks in both cases. However, the effects of distance disappear gradually at large distances. These findings might give some guidance to traffic optimization and management.

Optimization for Bus Stop Design Based on Cellular Automaton Traffic Model

Bus is a main component of public transportation,and then the design of bus stop position,size and form should improve efficiency of public transportation.The optimization of bus stop is studied in this paper.According to the observation and analysis of realistic traffic,a micro-cellular automaton mixed traffic flow model with bus stop is established.And then a new evaluation index for the bus stop design is introduced.Finally,an optimized bus stop scheme is obtained by simulation.This research is studied for providing a theoretical basis for the construction of bus stop.

Hierarchical predictive energy management strategy for fuel cell buses entering bus stops scenario

This paper aims to answer how to use traffic information to design energy management strategies for fuel cell buses in a networked environment.For the buses entering the bus stops scenario,this paper proposes a hierarchical energy management strategy for fuel cell buses,which considers the traffic information near the bus stops.In the upper-level trajectory planning stage,the optimal SOC trajectory under various historical traffic conditions is solved through dynamic planning.The traffic information and the best SOC trajectory are mapped through BiLSTM,which can achieve fast,real-time long-term SOC reference.In the lower-level real-time predictive energy management strategy,the optimal SOC is used as the state reference to guide the predictive energy management of fuel cell buses when entering the bus stops.Simulation results show that compared with the strategy without SOC trajectory reference,the life cost of the proposed strategy is reduced by 13.8%,and the total cost is reduced by 3.61%.The SOC of the proposed strategy is closer to the DP optimal solution.

Car capacity near bus stops with mixed traffic derived by additive-conflict-flows procedure

To determinate car capacity at bus stops with mixed traffic, a new theoretical approach was developed on the basis of additive-conflict-flows procedure. The procedure was extended from homogeneous traffic flow to mixed traffic flow. The conflicts among cars, buses and bicycles near the stop can be described by the extended procedure. The procedure can be understood more easily than the theory of gap acceptance. Car capacity near the stop is the function of both bus stream and bicycle stream. The proposed model can also analyze the cases of pedestrian effects and limited priority of bicyclists. Numerical results show that the car capacity decreases with the increasing flow rates of other streams. In addition, pedestrian effects and bicyclist's limited priority have negative effects on car capacity near bus stops with mixed traffic flow.

Survival analysis of car travel time near a bus stop in developing countries

This paper presents an important investigation into car travel time affected by mixed traffic flow near a bus stop on the basis of survival analysis theory.Travel time data associated with mixed traffic characteristics near a bus stop were collected by video cameras.A hazard-based duration model was introduced to analyze the effects of mixed traffic flow on car travel time.The results indicate that mixed traffic flow impacts car travel time significantly.And the presence of bus berthing violation would delay car travel time.The proposed model can be used to forecast temporal shifts in car travel time due to changes in mixed traffic flow.The influential factors related to mixed traffic flow should be given full consideration in the planning and designing of bus stops in developing countries.

Optimization of transit total bus stop time models

Several factors influence bus transit reliability which includes bus stop conditions along the route, traffic conditions, route of travel and time of day. The overall transit bus reli- ability is generally affected by dwell time （DT）, the fare payment method, the bus stop location, and the number of passengers alighting or boarding. A new variable is defined in this study, total bus stop time （TBST）, which is the summation of DT and the time it takes a bus to effectively park at a bus stop and the re-entering the traffic stream. It is suggested that the overall bus transit reliability along routes could be improved if the TBST is mini- mized at bus stops. In this study, TBST models for bus stops located at mid-blocks and near intersections were developed based on multivariate regression analysis using ordinary least squares method. Data collection was conducted at 60 bus stops, 30 of which were near intersections and 30 at mid-blocks, in Washington DC during morning, mid-day and evening peak hours. The variables observed at each bus stop are as follows： number of passengers alighting or boarding, DT, TBST, bus stop type, bus pad, length number of lanes on approach to the bus stop, and permitted parking. Statistical inferences were based on 5% level of significance. From the results, it was inferred that the new variable, TBST, could potentially be used to improve scheduling and transit bus systems planning in a dense urban area.

Bus Scheduling Using a Skip-Stop Strategy Based on Stop Relevance

This research aims to propose an efficient and economic operation mode for bus scheduling optimization by combining with the skip-stop buses and all-stop buses.The skip-stop tactics in bus operation provide service of high efficiency,good punctuality and high speed for long distance commuters,which attracts wide scholarly attention.This paper establishes a model to quantitatively evaluate the relevance between stops,and then develops a new optimization method of skip-stop tactics using the data sets of IC card and bus GPS trajectory.A collaborating scheduling optimization model considering the support and confidence among the stops is proposed to precisely suit passengers’demands and improve bus service.The optimization objective is to reduce the passengers’total travel time,the number of vehicles in use,and operation energy for both the user’s and the operator’s benefits.This methodology is developed for a single-directional route using a multi-decision choice model with genetic algorithm applied to attain efficient solutions.A case study of Qingdao,which is assessed in this new model,shows a reduction of 18.31%in total passenger travel time and 17.65%in the operational inputs as compared with solutions that do not consider the skip-stop tactics.