Simulation of beijing brT operation with random Departure Time

by xumei chen, lei yu, liu yu and jifu guo inTroducTion As an innovative public transport option, bus rapid transit (BRT) has been widely applied in recent years. Big cities in China are experiencing rapid motorization at an alarming rate. In such a situation, many cities in China have attempted to bring BRT into their transit systems to address urban transport problems. A wave of BRT planning and implementation is sweeping China. Since November 2001, as many as 14 Chinese cities either have implemented BRT corridors or are in the process of implementing or planning for a BRT system.1 Beijing is one of the first cities to implement a BRT system in China. At the end of 2004, its first operational route, the first stage of the Southern Axis BRT Line, began its trial operation. During the beginning of the operation, since the transit signal priority of BRT system is not fully implemented, there exists severe BRT vehicle delays at the intersections, and thus the expected effectiveness of BRT services could not be achieved. To find a new way to reduce BRT vehicle delays and provide practical guidance for the BRT operation, this research analyzed the relations between BRT operation and traffic parameters of intersection signal controls. VISSIM-based microsimulation and global optimization based on a full factorial experiment design method were employed in this paper.2 Meantime, the optimal combination schemes for BRT operation that focus on enhancing the efficiency of both BRT and the general traffic system have been proposed. To better simulate practical operations, the random departure time was provided for the BRT scheduling.