Exploring New Bus Priority Methods at Isolated Vehicle Actuated Junctions

Bus priority at traffic signals is necessary to improve bus travel time and service regularity especially when buses are late. It can be given by altering signal timings in favour of approaching buses. In usual practice this is achieved by either extending the green period or recalling the green stage early. In this study the usual extension and recall methods at VA signal controller have been developed and evaluated by using VISSIM microscopic simulation tool. Reasons for using VISSIM are also justified. During evaluation bus travel time savings and impact on general traffic has been considered. Performance of these methods on various junction types has been evaluated. New advanced bus priority methods have been developed and their performances have been compared with the existing methods.