Assessing the effect of a light rail transit system on road traffic travel time reliability

Sonu Mathew () and Srinivas S. Pulugurtha ()
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Sonu Mathew: The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Srinivas S. Pulugurtha: The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Public Transport, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, No 3, 313-333

Abstract: Abstract A travel time reliability-based approach is proposed to assess the effect of the light rail transit (LRT) system on the road network within its vicinity. A 4-mile stretch of the Blue Line LRT extension, which connects the Old Concord Road and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) main campus in Charlotte, North Carolina (NC), was considered as the study corridor. The raw travel time data was collected from the Regional Integrated Transportation Information System (RITIS) website at one-minute intervals. The average travel time (ATT), planning time (PT), buffer time (BT), buffer time index (BTI), and planning time index (PTI) were computed for each link, referred to as Traffic Message Channel (TMC) in this research, by day-of-the-week and time-of-the day. Further, the travel time reliability of the links on the LRT extension corridor and adjacent corridors (both the parallel route and the cross-streets) were computed for different scenarios: network without LRT, testing phase of LRT, first month of LRT operation, third month of LRT operation, sixth month of LRT operation, and ninth month of LRT operation. The travel time reliability of the alternate route and cross-streets was affected by the LRT system operation. Increased green times and better coordination on the LRT corridor and the benefits associated with the alternate mode/route choice for commuters may be the reason behind the steadiness in travel time performance measures due to the LRT. The methodology and findings help transportation planners and engineers in comparing the performance or efficiency of large-scale public transportation projects like LRT and bus rapid transit (BRT) on travel time reliability within its vicinity.

Keywords: Light rail transit; Travel time reliability; Planning time; Buffer time; Buffer time index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s12469-020-00234-0

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