Bus Use of Shoulders (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 20-39
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From page 20... ...
To this day, the Team Transit group 20 has continued to periodically review existing operations and plan additional shoulder lane projects. The result is that currently there are 14 routes and 400 buses that use the freeway shoulder lanes on a daily basis.
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21 FIGURE 14 BBS network -- Twin Cities area. FIGURE 15 Bus shoulder miles built or rebuilt annually.
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• Metro Transit has not evaluated the impact that the use of shoulder lanes has had on operating costs; however, it would like to do so in the future. The key benefit cited is trip reliability; a benefit to both the customer and the operator (in terms of ease of schedule development)
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From page 23... ...
State Highway Patrol The State Patrol has had very few problems with the bus operations. Last year, operating guidelines for freeway shoulder lane use were added to state law.
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Lessons Learned Lessons learned from this experience indicates that there is potential for the Minneapolis freeway shoulder lane concept to work in other areas for the following reasons: • Use of the shoulder lanes is limited to transit vehicles driven by professional operators.
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From page 25... ...
• From the standpoint of traffic safety, benefits to transit operations, and public relations, the use of freeway shoulder lanes has been a success. Bus Driver Survey Bus drivers on routes using I-35W and TH-5 were surveyed to determine their reaction and the degree to which they use the bus-only shoulders.
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From page 26... ...
Transit buses (not other buses or vans) can use the emergency shoulder only when necessary to bypass mainline congestion Monday through Friday between 4 p.m.
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From page 27... ...
An additional sign is located toward the end of the shoulder that advises bus drivers to yield to off-ramp traffic. Virginia also operates a general traffic shoulder lane project on I-66 near the Dulles Access Road BBS project.
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The MPO completed a planning study for these BBS projects in August 2005. The planning study addressed adequacy of the shoulders, level of emergency vehicle response service using the shoulders, and transit services.
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The SANDAG BBS demonstration project will evaluate the feasibility of converting freeway shoulder lanes on SR-52 (between Kearny Villa Road and I-805) and I-805 (between SR-52 and Nobel Drive)
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From page 30... ...
• Assess the applicability of converting freeway shoulders to transit lanes on other freeways sections. Project Description The project involves a 1-year pilot implementation of the transit shoulder lanes to evaluate operational and safety implications.
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From page 31... ...
There has been agreement for some time now between Caltrans District 11 and SANDAG staffs on the potential benefits of freeway shoulder lane use to existing freeway express transit and future Bus Rapid Transit services. Currently, however, the California Streets and Highways Code prohibits use of shoulder lanes as travel lanes.
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• Maintenance -- Is there any reduction in freeway levels of service from the transit-only lanes, and is there an increased level of maintenance required? • What kinds of physical improvements to shoulder lanes would be required if this concept were to be implemented permanently?
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From page 33... ...
Operating Partners The Operating Partners to this Operating Protocol are the MTO, Mississauga Transit, GO Transit, and the Ontario Provincial Police. Design The Highway 403 BBS extends on the right shoulder between Erin Mills Parkway and Mavis Road, in both directions (Figure 25)
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From page 34... ...
Once a bus has entered the BBS it shall not reenter the GPL if the operating speed of that lane improves, but should continue to the end of the BBS to minimize potential conflicts with GPL traffic. Eastbound When the operating speed of Highway 403 is less than or equal to 60 km/h before the ramp exit at Erin Mills Parkway, buses should exit at the Parkway and enter the BBS from the dedicated bus ramp connection at the Parkway interchange.
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From page 35... ...
When the BBS is in use, buses that are southbound on Erin Mills Parkway will access the dedicated bus ramp connection from the southbound bus-only left-turn lane. The southbound approach has a traffic signal that will give leftturning buses added priority (Figure 27)
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From page 36... ...
By using the shoulders and agreeing to the Operating Protocol, the Bus Operators acknowledge and accept the more limited operating conditions of the BBS compared with the highway GPL. CASE STUDY 6 -- DUBLIN, IRELAND BBS operations in Dublin began in 1998.
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From page 37... ...
As congestion creeps further from the city into the outer traffic arteries the requirement to implement additional and/or extensions of the bus priority lanes is becoming more important." Figure 29 reports travel time savings afforded by BBS and bus priority treatments for major travel corridors. Figure 30 shows the number of buses and bus passengers for key corridors.
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FIGURE 30 Number of buses and passengers for key travel corridors in Dublin, Ireland.
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From page 39... ...
Bus drivers are given special training on the use of shoulder lanes. Roundtable planning efforts involving the police, design office, bus operator, and the Dublin Transportation Office were instrumental in implementing the BBS operations.
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