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Bus Stop & Bus Lane Capacity: Planning Bus Routes in Downtown Seattle

Bus Stop & Bus Lane Capacity: Planning Bus Routes in Downtown Seattle. Owen Kehoe, PE, PTOE Transportation Engineer Speed & Reliability Group King County Metro Transit Seattle, WA. Background. Speed & Reliability Group Special projects, improve existing service

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Bus Stop & Bus Lane Capacity: Planning Bus Routes in Downtown Seattle

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  1. Bus Stop & Bus Lane Capacity: Planning Bus Routes in Downtown Seattle Owen Kehoe, PE, PTOE Transportation Engineer Speed & Reliability GroupKing County Metro Transit Seattle, WA

  2. Background • Speed & Reliability Group • Special projects, improve existing service • Traffic Engineering background • Work with local DOT’s • Transit in Downtown Seattle: • 5000+ daily buses on 5 Avenues • Bus Tunnel

  3. Background • 2-year Bus Tunnel Closure • Buses diverted to surface streets • 3rd Avenue: Two way, Four Lanes • Skip Stop operation: Blue & Yellow Zones • General Traffic Restricted: Right-Turn Only AM/PM Peak • 2nd & 4th Avenues: One way with transit lane • Tunnel opening September 2007 • Traffic restrictions remain on 3rd Avenue • Shift additional routes to 3rd Avenue • How many buses can we load onto 3rd Avenue?

  4. Too Many!

  5. How Many Buses? • Methodology presented in TCRP TCQS Manual • Bus Stop Capacity • Bus Lane Capacity • Developed custom worksheet • Need to automate, user-friendly • Uses available input data • Dialog with transit planning staff • Focus on PM peak condition • 3rd Avenue, NB & SB • 2nd Avenue, SB only

  6. Bus Stop Capacity Main Inputs Calculations Output # of Loading Areas Dwell Time Signal Timing Clearance Time Right-Turn traffic 25% Failure Rate Capacity buses/hr

  7. 3rd Ave Identify Critical Bus Stops NB Bus stop capacity 83 bus/hr Refine Dwell Time & Clearance Time measurements Pine St 81 bus/hr Pike St Union St 114 bus/hr Blue Zone Capacity: 75 buses/hr Yellow Zone Capacity: 80 buses/hr University St Seneca St 139 bus/hr Spring St Madison St 90 bus/hr Marion St Columbia St 107 bus/hr Cherry St James St 136 bus/hr

  8. Bus Lane Capacity Main Inputs Calculations Output Adjacent Lane traffic Bus Lane Capacity buses/hr Blue Zone Capacity Yellow Zone Capacity

  9. 3rd Ave Pine St Pike St Union St NB Third Avenue Capacity: 140 buses/hr Blue Zone Capacity: 75 buses/hr Yellow Zone Capacity: 75 buses/hr University St Seneca St Spring St Blue Zone Capacity: 75 buses/hr Yellow Zone Capacity: 80 buses/hr Madison St SB Third Avenue Capacity: 140 buses/hr Marion St Columbia St Cherry St James St

  10. End Results • Compared bus volume to capacity • Assigned routes to 3rd Avenue • Just enough buses/hr added • Skip-stops well-balanced • Future Planning • Identify improvements to increase capacity • BRT service integration • Triple skip stop pattern?

  11. Key Lessons Learned • Planning bus stop capacity for reliability • Maximize use of transit priority streets • Tool for planning/scheduling routes • Balance: bus volume vs. reliability • Capacity = limit for acceptable reliability • Failure Rate sets reliability level • Critical bus stops are key • Analysis/data collection efforts • Capacity improvements

  12. Bus Stop & Bus Lane Capacity: Planning Bus Routes in Downtown Seattle Owen Kehoe, PE, PTOE owen.kehoe@kingcounty.gov Speed & Reliability GroupKing County Metro Transit Seattle, WA

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