Abstract
Traffic congestion in major cities is a major problem which is growing steadily every year. It is clear that something must be done to curb this trend. Several different concepts are being investigated which can be used to minimize congestion and improve the traffic flow. Automation of the bus system represents one of those methods, and is the focus of this paper. Currently, public opinion of the quality of bus services is generally not perceived as adequate. Buses generally travel about 60% of the speed of other vehicles, and more often than not adherence to schedule is difficult to achieve. The consequence is that people choose to take personal transportation instead, causing increased congestion. Automation seeks to address this issue by offering decreased travel times, increased schedule adherence, and greater overall convenience compared to the current bus systems. The concept of automation is based on expanding upon the ideas of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and making the system as efficient as possible.
The overall focus of this study is thus to determine the feasibility of automating specific sections of the bus route in a particular city with an exclusive buslane. The question that needs to be answered is whether automation has the potential to offer well defined advantages over a traditional BRT system to make it a sensible alternative. Answering this question requires a detailed analysis of several different issues, including a quantifiable assessment of how the system would operate, as a means to gauge its prospective effectiveness. This is accomplished by creating a virtual reality simulation which combines bus/route/traffic conditions and lane design. This demonstration not only gives the viewer a visual appreciation for the benefits which accompany automation, but also provides a quantifiable way to evaluate the system's operating parameters and offers an overview of its functional organization.