ENHANCING BUS OPERATIONS ON ARTERIAL ROADS: SOME LESSONS FROM AN AUSTRALIAN CASE STUDY

Bus priority treatments such as busways, bus lanes and bus priority at traffic signals are all utilized in Australian metropolitan areas. These treatments are designed to reduce the travel time for buses and make this transportation mode more efficient and attractive. The more common applications of such treatments for Australian conditions are assessed in this paper. The current trends in bus priority treatments are addressed by considering a case study for the Gold Coast Highway located on Queensland's Gold Coast. This paper provides an evaluation of bus priority treatments and conditions for justification for such measures. The paper summarizes the impact of introducing bus lanes, transit lanes, bus priority at traffic signals and improved ticketing systems for the Gold Coast Highway. The analysis indicates that journey time savings for buses of up to 20% may be achieved with these bus priority treatments. Using the methodology applied to the Gold Coast Highway, the paper identifies the optimum conditions for using typical bus priority treatments. Furthermore, it is identified that recent developments in technology have enabled more sophisticated and effective use of bus priority measures. Systems that integrate traffic information at 'real-time' will allow substantial improvements in arterial road operations. It is concluded that the integration of bus ticketing systems, bus timetables, prevailing traffic conditions with the location of specific buses through the urban traffic control system, will significantly improve traffic management techniques.