Experimental microsimulation modeling of road safety impacts of bus priority

Abstract

The safety implications of the implementation of bus lanes on road corridors remain unclear, given the mixed findings from previous research. Recent research found improvements in road safety resulting from bus priority in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; however, the causal factors for this effect remain to be explored. In this study, an experimental microscopic traffic simulation modeling approach was adopted to explore the road safety effects of implementation of bus lanes on a representative road corridor in Melbourne. Models compared the traffic conflict patterns of three traffic configurations: mixed traffic (base case, no priority), curbside lane reallocated for buses, and new curbside..