Trrl Lr 767

Various measures aimed at improving the operation of a bus service have been examined using the results of TRRL surveys ans simulation modelling. Service 9 of the Bristol Omnibus Company was chosen as a basis for the study. The main findings were: (1) In the evening peak period improved time-keeping could reduce the mean passenger waiting time by 5 per cent. (2) reducing bus-boarding times to the lowest values observed elsewhere in the UK could bring about reductions of 8 percent in the mean on bus travel time in the evening peak period. (3) 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; (4) 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