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A new approach to evaluating on-road public transport priority projects: balancing the demand for limited road-space

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Abstract

Despite widespread growth in on-road public transport priority schemes, road management authorities have few tools to evaluate the impacts of these schemes on all road users. This paper describes a methodology developed in Melbourne, Australia to assist the road management authority, VicRoads, evaluate trade-offs in the use of its limited road-space for new bus and tram priority projects. The approach employs traffic micro-simulation modelling to assess road-space re-allocation impacts, travel behaviour modelling to assess changes in travel patterns and a social cost benefit framework to evaluate impacts. The evaluation considers a comprehensive range of impacts including the environmental benefits of improved public transport services. Impacts on public transport reliability improvements are also considered. Although improved bus and tram reliability is a major rationale for traffic priority its use in previous evaluations is rare. The paper critiques previous approaches, describes the proposed method and explores some of the results found in its application. A major finding is that despite a more comprehensive approach to measuring the benefits of bus and tram priority, road-space reallocation is difficult to economically justify in road networks where public transport usage is low and car usage high. Strategies involving the balanced deployment of bus and tram priority measures where the allocation of time and space to PT minimises negative traffic impacts is shown to improve the overall management of road-space. A discussion of the approach is also provided including suggestions for further methodology development.

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Notes

  1. A setback is a mixed traffic area at the front of a bus or tram lane at the traffic intersection to enable turning traffic to wait outside the traffic stream to make turns.

Abbreviations

DETR:

The Department of Environment Transport and the Regions

IVT:

in-vehicle travel time

NPV:

net present value

PT:

public transport

TGC:

total generalised cost

VPH:

vehicles per hour

WT:

wait time

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Ms Anita Curnow and Chris Adams of VicRoads for their assistance in the development of this paper. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors.

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Correspondence to Graham Currie.

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Currie, G., Sarvi, M. & Young, B. A new approach to evaluating on-road public transport priority projects: balancing the demand for limited road-space. Transportation 34, 413–428 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-006-9107-3

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