Quantifying the economic and other benefits of enabling priority bus egress from bus stops
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
2017
Subject Area
place - australasia, place - urban, mode - bus, infrastructure - bus/tram lane, infrastructure - bus/tram priority, infrastructure - traffic signals
Keywords
bus egress, give way to bus, public transport benefits, yield to bus
Abstract
Buses are finding it progressively difficult to reenter traffic from a bus stop in urban areas. While there has been a focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public transport through the introduction of electronic ticketing, bus lanes and priority traffic signals in recent years, buses in New Zealand currently rely solely on other road users’ courtesy to merge back into general traffic flow when egressing from a bus stop. This research project identified and quantified the economic and other benefits that would likely arise if a change in legislation allowed buses leaving bus stops to have priority over general traffic.
The research explored international ‘yield to bus’ legislation and examined road user attitudes towards a potential give way to buses law change and the likely impacts of facilitating priority for buses at a network level. An economic assessment has enabled tangible values to be attributed to the likely benefits arising from a law change under a range of implementation and compliance scenarios.
This report provides an evidence-based assessment of the efficiency of a legislation change concluding that ‘give way to bus’ legislation provides a viable investment opportunity. The outcomes will aid a review of the existing regulatory setting and provide evidenced-based inputs to compile a full business case.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by NZTA, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Hyde, R., & Smith, D. (2017). Quantifying the economic and other benefits of enabling priority bus egress from bus stops. NZ Transport Agency Research Report 609. pp. 1-79.
