Citation

Bartholdi JJ, Eisenstein DD. Transp. Res. B Methodol. 2012; 46(4): 481-491.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.trb.2011.11.001

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The primary challenge for an urban bus system is to maintain constant headways between successive buses. Most bus systems try to achieve this by adherence to a schedule; but this is undermined by the tendency of headways to collapse, so that buses travel in bunches. To counter this, we propose a new method of coördinating buses. Our method abandons the idea of a schedule and even any a priori target headway. Under our scheme headways are dynamically self-equalizing and the natural headway of the system tends to emerge spontaneously. Headways also become self-correcting in that after disturbances they reëqualize without intervention by management or even awareness of the drivers.

We report on a successful implementation to control a bus route in Atlanta.