Bus Use of Highways: State of the Art

Abstract

This report, based on a review of ongoing and completed research, reflects the experience of more than 200 bus priority treatments in the United States and elsewhere. The types of treatments, the number of people they serve, and the design details they utilize vary widely. Treatments can be grouped into three broad categories: those relating to freeways, arterials, and terminals. Most bus priority treatments consist of reserved bus lanes on downtown city streets. Bus-ways and other freeway-related treatments are ground or proposed mainly in large U.S. cities with rail transit systems, large downtown employment, and/or heavy peak-hour transit use. These specialized treatments, however, were of greatest concern to public officials, for they involved larger expenditures and produced the most significant benefits. Design standards should consider the driving skills of professional bus drivers, the high levels of vehicle maintenance, and the relatively light bus volumes needed to accommodate heavy passenger flows. It is significant to note that most existing express bus priority treatments represent either contra-flow operations on existing radial freeways or special treatments to bypass queues. Most major proposals, however, call for exclusive bus roadways. Yet, measured in capital costs per person-minute saved, busways are far cost-effective than contra-flow lanes and other operational treatmens. The importance of ramp metering, downtown distribution facilities, fringe parking effective enforcement of arterial buslanes, and the importance of allowing for future conversion to other systems are also discussed.

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