Discrete Event Simulation of Bus Terminals

Abstract

Public transport is important to society as it provides spatial accessibility and reduces congestion and pollution in comparison to other motorized modes.To assure a high-quality service, all parts of the system need to be well-functioning and properly planned.One important aspect for the system's bus terminals is their capacity.This needs to be high enough to avoid congestion and queues and the delays these may lead to.During planning processes, various suggested designs and solutions for a terminal need to be evaluated.Estimating capacity and how well the suggestions will function is a challenging problem, however.It requires analysis of complex interactions and behaviour of the vehicles.This sort of analyses can preferably be carried out using microsimulation.Furthermore, a discrete event simulation approach can make use of the fact that the path of a vehicle through a terminal can readily be described by a sequence of events (such as arriving, starting to drive to a stop etc.).The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate how discrete event simulation can be used to evaluate bus terminal design and traffic control policies.The main contribution is the development of a method for bus terminal simulation.As a first step, a discrete event simulation model of a combined bus and tram stop is formulated.The model is tested on a real system where the current design is compared to an alternative one.The test shows that a model developed with a discrete event approach can be used to evaluate the situation at a stop and compare design alternatives.In the next step, a general discrete event simulation model of bus terminals is formulated.A modular approach is introduced, where a terminal can be constructed from a set of module building blocks.Another important contribution of the model is its spatial resolution that allows for queues and blockages to occur throughout the terminal.By applying the simulation model in a case study, it is shown that the model can be used to evaluate and compare various scenarios related to the layout, number of passengers and the outside traffic situation.Lastly, the bus terminal simulation model is used in a second case study in order to compare model output with empirical data.This study identified a number of factors that may have had an influence on differences between observations and simulation results and that is of interest to look further into.This includes the actual adherence to terminal rules and the effects of model parameters.university and VTI.Many are those that have had an influence on the writing and its contents.Some directly through discussions or guidance, others by making my days better through conversations, support and laughter.Some have been a constant presence from the very first day, other have come later and some have left.They have all been an important part of the process.There have been those that always listens and check in on how you do, those that always find the time to talk about everything and nothing, those that have made me better and those that just brightens the day.No others have had such a direct influence on my work as my supervisors Andreas Tapani and Anders Peterson.Through their guidance, both I and the contents of this thesis have grown over the last few years.They have been a constant support and have always been helping me finding the way forward when needed, but also giving me the freedom to look for my own way.My main supervisor, Jan Lundgren, has also been of great importance with his guidance and by helping me see both the bigger picture and the smaller details.The research of this thesis has been funded by K2 and Norrköping municipality and I am much grateful to both for having been given this opportunity.People from the two organizations, together with others from Östgötatrafiken, Stockholms läns landsting, Jernhusen, VTI and WSP, have also participated in the reference groups of the research projects.Their insights and understanding of public transport and bus terminals have been invaluable.K2 also deserves a special mention for having provided a space for contact with other researchers within public transport.The PhD seminars, in particular, have been both interesting and rewarding and the other K2 PhD students have broadened my understanding of public transport and the many ways to approach the subject.Last, but never least, comes my gratefulness to my beloved and companion in life for just being awesome, to my cats for being fabulous, to my brother for being amazing and the rest of my family for just being fantastic in general.

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