C. Rusin and G. Kumar

Spatial presentation of PTIPS data for Bus Priority Planning

July 2016

OUTLINE

Introduction (the story)The bus priority storyData analysisGeospatial analysisInterpretation of dataPresentation of analysisProject outcomesNext steps

Sydney’s bus network:13 bus contract regionsOver 600 bus routes In the vicinity of 370 million

bus passengers over a year

2.54 billion passenger kilometres in 2015 (1.58 billion in Melbourne)

CONTEXT: ABOUT SYDNEY BUS SERVICES

Bus priority in Sydney

600 bus routes, thousands of services each day Over 1 million passengers transported per day

SYDNEY’S BUS FUTURE (TFNSW 2013) ‘Simpler, faster, better bus services’:

‘turn up and go’ services Rapid services av. speed above 25 km/hr Reliability of services (to timetable)

Tiers of the bus network: Rapid routes (efficiency, linking centres) Suburban routes (frequency) Local routes (coverage)

Issues affecting bus efficiency: Competing demands for road space Constrained by congested road networks

THE BUS PRIORITY STORY

A B

Rapid

Suburban

Local

CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVEBut what happens when Sydney’s roads look like this?

BUS PRIORITY IN SYDNEY

Bus priority story – what do we want?Bus network which is reliable, efficiency,

understandableNSW Premiere’s target for 90% of peak travel on

road routes is on timePartner with NSW Government’s investment

strategyConfidence in where to spend

Task: Develop analysis tool for analysing data and identifying corridor pinchpoints.

Transport for NSW has commissioned several pinch points analysis for improved bus priority infrastructure, along several corridors.Using the Public Transport Information and Priority System (PTIPS)

PTIPS

Pinch points analysis in the bigger picture:

Justification for bus priority and corridor efficiency improvements…

Clear understanding of bus corridor pinchpoints

PROJECT FLOW CHART

INTRODUCTION

Identify problem corridor

Investigation and

assessment

Options evaluation

Corridor performance and options

report

Design of infrastructure solution

PTIPS analysis to understand pinch points

The task objective:

Clear illustration and understanding of corridor pinch points (problem areas)

DATA ANALYSISCase study: Northern Beaches (Neutral Bay to Mona Vale)

Over 820,000 bus trips (over 50 routes), 30kms or corridor.

Local issues: Traffic congestion Weekend travel time issues Kerbside parking Passenger congestion at

stops Narrow lanes Inconsistent bus priority

infrastructure

Identified as a priority Rapid Bus Corridor in Sydney’s Bus Future

(2013)

DATA ANALYSIS

Task strategy:

Lessons learned:Know what your end result should look likeTemplate MS Excel, copy-paste data sets, automated analysisGIS analysis – good for large data analysisAvoid taking averages of averages (use first principles)

1. Stop-by-stop analysis

2. time-point analysis

GEO-SPATIAL ANALYSIS

Time point data analysisFiner-grained data, identification of specific problem locationsLarger volume of data to analyseGIS is an effective application to analyse and visualise speed and

variability results. Method:

1: Processing raw PTIPs data into format, excluding irrelevant and erroneous data.

2: Segmented the bus route into sections (106 sections, 150-170m) 3: Data imported and mapped using x,y co-ordinates 4: Identify northbound/southbound routes and data outside of corridor

excluded

Geeta Kumar

GEO-SPATIAL ANALYSIS

Time point data analysisData imported and mapped using x,y co-ordinates 5: Calculated average travel times

for each section, determined by interpolating the times at which the bus arrived at the segment ends.

6: Analysis was visualized on a map.

GEO-SPATIAL TIME POINT ANALYSIS

GIS MAP

INTERPRETATION OF DATA

Stop-based data analysis

Comparing two metrics: Average Speed and Average variation

Consider whole corridor – to find pinch points.

Pinchpoint

Pinchpoint

INTERPRETATION OF DATA

Stop-based data analysisPinchpoint

Pinchpoint

AM Peak Inbound services Between Sydney

Road, Balgowlah and Sydney CBD

Comparison of All stops and Express services

VALIDATION OF ANALYSIS

Inbound traffic, PM period, Military Road at Wycombe Road (Neutral Bay) - facing West

Bunching of services: buses delaying busesInbound (Neutral Bay)

VALIDATION OF ANALYSIS

Outbound traffic, Military Road at Murdoch Street (Cremorne)

Inbound traffic, PM period, Military Road - facing WestBus lane free

PRESENTATION OF ANALYSIS

Time point analysis (Map with colour-coded sections) High level of detail Efficient analysis through GIS Identification of specific pinch point locations Visual presentation of corridor performance metrics Map – easy to understand

Stop-stop analysis (graphical presentation) Best use of available data Graphical analysis efficient to produce Connection between performance metrics and locations Logic for pinch point identification is clear

Which is better?

OTHER ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Opal card origin-destination data analysisOther ticketing data and service type comparisons (all stop versus limited

stops)Busway vehicle flow and passenger capacity analysisCurrent flow vs optimal capacity – efficiency enhancementsOptions assessment:

Detailed assessment

Preliminary investigation

Strategic review

• Toolkit of options• TWG review

• SWOT assessment• Preliminary capacity

investigation

• Modelling• Multi-criteria assessment

PROJECT OUTCOMES

Tailor-made approach to measuring and understanding pinchpoints.

Informed improvements to bus corridor efficiency: New bus lanes and converted lanes to bus priority Fewer bus stops Bus platforms next to stops or indented bays Extended bus lane times Removal of roadside inhibitors (e.g. trees) Parking removal and adjacent street parking improvements

Opportunities to use the analysis in various stages of project lifecycle.

Transport NSW expressed satisfaction with the outputs: Understandable Reliable basis for justifying planning & investment Enables specific response to actual corridor issues

NEXT STEPS

Inputs into broader study on Northern Beaches corridor performance and opportunities investigation

Previously this work has fed into business cases for corridor improvements

Creating a stream-lined data analysis service for our clients – well tested and proven Combine with other tested analysis methods and develop a toolkit for

corridor performance analysis, option development and assessmentOpportunities to use method within Auckland and New Zealand

comparable transport markets

The Big Picture

LAST WORDS

Source: Daily Telegraph, “Frustrated commuters want express service”, Dec 2015 (Photo: Justin Sanson)

“… if we want to reduce our reliance on private cars we need better and more frequent public transport options.” The Hills Mayor, Michelle Byrne

Questions?

Thank you!

Photo source: SMH 2014 The Military-Spit-Pittwater bus corridor