Developing models and simulations for transit service improvements of congested urban corridors

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Transit agencies across Canada are experiencing increased challenges to offer reliable services to passengers along the congested urban corridors. In the case of British Columbia (BC) Transit, the cost of transit delays due to traffic congestion through the midtown corridors along Enterprise Way and Springfield Road of Kelowna is estimated approximately $300,000 annually. Around one-third of transit trips in Kelowna pass through these corridors. To address the growing reliability and cost challenges, BC Transit has identified several service improvement strategies as potential solutions. Moreover, traffic congestion is potentially influenced by the built environment characteristics of these corridors, such as presence of shopping centres, and closely spaced intersections. Further research is required to identify transit preferential treatments and built environment configurations for effectively improving service reliability at different intersections. This research develops innovative modelling methods and simulation tools for testing alternative service improvement strategies on transit reliability (i.e. travel time variation). The objectives of this study are to: 1) develop a traffic microsimulation tool for examining the impact of transit preferential treatments on travel time variation, and 2) develop statistical models for testing the influence of built environment characteristics on travel time variation. The findings of this study will assist BC Transit to identify priority investment areas for effective improvement of transit services. This improved reliability will directly benefit BC Transit through increased ridership and revenue, and reduced cost for transit delays. The increased revenue and cost savings will further facilitate investments in expanding the transit network to serve a larger segment of the population in BC. The outcome of this research will also help Canada to effectively allocate funds under the $180 billion Investing in Canada infrastructure plan on transit service improvement projects over the next 10 years. In addition to the economic benefits, Canada will have many-fold benefits from this project including reductions in traffic congestions and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and improvements in population health and accessibility.