Public transport priorities

Public Transport priorities

Description / objective

Public transport priorities are designed to enhance the mobility of passenger-carrying vehicles at the expense of private cars. They may involve dedicated roadway infrastructure or reallocation of road space for public transport use, and typically involve adaptation of traffic signal stages to favor public transport vehicles.

ITS applications

Efficient allocation of junction capacity in favor of public transport is dependent on ITS for vehicle identification, and hence the route on which it is operating and its adherence to schedule. This may result in adaptation of traffic-signal staging (timing) to facilitate a turning maneuver or to favor a bus that is running late.

Advantages and cautions

Adaptation of traffic-signal staging is not fully effective where the headway of the service is less than the signal cycle time. For high-frequency services, reallocation of road space in favor of transit is a more effective priority mechanism.