Using the iBus System to provide improved public transport information and applications for London

Abstract

iBus is Transport for London (TfL)’s innovative GPS-enhanced Automated Vehicle Location System for improving bus fleet management and giving buses priority at traffic signals. Since 2007, the System has been rolled out to the contracted fleet of 8,000+ buses across London, leading to improvements in bus regularity and punctuality, and a reduction in average waiting times. The System also delivers real time “next stop” signage and voice announcements for on board passengers, and is now being integrated with the (“Countdown”) passenger information system at bus stops, to provide improved real-time predictions of vehicle arrivals. The System’s implementation also provides an opportunity to derive other improved public transport information and applications, including profiles of typical journey and bus stop dwell times for management and operational reporting. Dwell times, for example, form an important component in overall bus journey times, and their variability can impact significantly on the effectiveness of systems such as SCOOT to provide bus priority, as well as on overall service performances. The ability to derive typical dwell times therefore helps TfL to optimise the effectiveness of SCOOT (and associated vehicles detectors) in providing bus priority, and their values have potentially wider use in public transport operations, traffic management and simulation modelling. For example, they could provide an improved understanding of the expected delay of vehicles bus stops (and the knock-on impact on other traffic), and help predict more effectively the expected journey times for buses (and other vehicles) in London.

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