Analytical and simulation approaches to understand combined effects of transit signal priority and road-space priority measures

Abstract

Transit signal priority (TSP) may be combined with road-space priority (RSP) measures to increase its effectiveness. Previous studies have investigated the combination of TSP and RSP measures, such as TSP with dedicated bus lanes (DBLs) and TSP with queue jump lanes (QJLs). However, in these studies, combined effects are usually not compared with separate effects of each measure. In addition, there is no comprehensive study dedicated to understanding combined effects of TSP and RSP measures. It remains unclear whether combining TSP and RSP measures creates an additive effect where the combined effect of TSP and RSP measures is equal to the sum of their separate effects. The existence of such an additive effect would suggest considerable benefits from combining TSP and RSP measures. This paper explores combined effects of TSP and RSP measures, including TSP with DBLs and TSP with QJLs. Analytical results based on time-space diagrams indicate that at an intersection level, the combined effect on bus delay savings is smaller than the additive effect if there is no nearside bus stop and the traffic condition in the base case is undersaturated or near-saturated. With a near-side bus stop, the combined effect on bus delay savings at an intersection level can be better than the additive effect (or over-additive effect), depending on dwell time, distance from the bus stop to the stop line, traffic demand, and cycle length. In addition, analytical results suggest that at an arterial level, the combined effect on bus delay savings can be the over-additive effect with suitable signal offsets. These results are confirmed by a micro-simulation case study. Combined effects on arterial and side-street traffic delays are also discussed.