A study of some factors affecting bus service performance

various measures aimed at improving the operation of a bus service have been examined using the results of trrl surveys and simulation modelling. service 9 of the bristol omnibus company was chosen as a basis for the study. the main findings were: (i) in the evening peak period improved time-keeping could reduce the mean passenger waiting time by 5 per cent; (ii) reducing bus-boarding times to the lowest values observed elsewhere in the united kingdom could bring about reductions of 8 per cent in the mean waiting time and 10 per cent in the mean on-bus travel time in the evening peak period; (iii) when there was a persistent need for cancellations, waiting times could be reduced by rescheduling designed to make the scheduled complement compatible with available resources: when an average of one bus was missing from the service considered, the reduction was estimated to be of the order 10 per cent of the waiting time for a full service, in both peak and off-peak periods; (iv) use of more realistic run-time allocations would generate closer adherence to schedule: in the evening peak period this might reduce the mean waiting time by between 3 and 8 per cent. (a)