Priorities in traffic control for public bus transport

Abstract: The paper presents ways and methods of prioritizing public bus transport. Special attention is paid to dedicated bus lanes for public transport vehicles and priorities at traffic lights. Additionally, unconventional methods of prioritization are described. The paper also contains the results of research from a simulation conducted for a modeled section of a sequence of intersections along one of the streets in Warsaw.1. METHODS AND MEANS OF BUS PRIORITIZATION
The methods and means used to ensure priority for public transport can be divided into legal and technical ones. Legal measures are regulations that ensure priority for buses merging into traffic from bus stops in built-up areas.
These regulations are governed by the “Road Traffic Act”.
The most commonly used methods and means of bus prioritization include:
• dedicated traffic lanes in the same direction as the flow of other vehicles, • “contraflow” lanes – in the opposite direction to the traffic of users in other lanes (dedicated traffic direction), • allocating part of the existing road cross-section for public transport, e.g., tracks in the middle (or in the median strip) also for buses, • allocating the entire cross-section of existing roads for public transport, with the possible allowance of traffic for: taxis, bicycles, supply vehicles, and special vehicles.
• construction of special bus roads and tram tracks, independent of street layouts, • dedication of traffic lanes on expressways and priority when entering these roads, • priority at isolated and coordinated traffic signals.
• the use of “gates” that allow only buses (trolleybuses) to pass through a short section of a street between two streets, or to enter an area. (…)

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