Abstract

Bus travel in mixed traffic suffers from low speed and unreliability in Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has implemented a type of bus preferential treatment at most major arterials in Seoul since 1996. That is, the reserved bus lane designated for bus use only by land and pavement markings and signs, but not by fixed physical barriers. Until 1996 bus use the most predominant travel mode in Seoul, however the share of bus trips decreased remarkably from 1990 to 1997 due to the fast growing subway supply and the increased number of private vehicles. However, after the regular bus lanes were extended, the bus service improved and thus, the buses again became the predominant travel mode since 1998. In this paper, the performance impacts of reserved bus lanes in Seoul were evaluated and several suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the bus preferential treatment are proposed. The impacts of reserved bus lanes on both bus and auto performance were primarily measured by the relative speed changes of buses and autos and the average circulation rate of bus trips. Empirical results showed that the bus lanes were successful in improving average bus performance compared with other adjacent traffic. It was confirmed that right turning movement of the buses would cause the deterioration of bus speed in the curbside bus lanes. The average circulation rate of daily bus trips during the bus operation periods was somewhat increased by the bus lane introduction. A current warrant for reserved bus lanes in Korea was reviewed, and average bus speed during peak periods was proposed as a new warrant. In order to improve the effectiveness of the reserved bus lane, the type of lane markings in reserved bus lane, enforcement strategies for illegal parking in the bus lane and FIFO service at bus stops are discussed. Document type: Article