AARoads Forum

National Boards => General Highway Talk => Traffic Control => Topic started by: Ned Weasel on September 13, 2020, 09:43:54 AM

Title: Bus Queue Jumper?
Post by: Ned Weasel on September 13, 2020, 09:43:54 AM
https://youtu.be/fVlw6DyF_xE

I just ran across this this morning.  I'm guessing horizontal bar in the ground would be the location of a traffic signal.  But the only way I can see this working is if the rear queue lanes are separated for a short distance (100 feet or so?), which would require at least six feet of extra width (assuming 3-foot-minimum barriers), which would then require the outer lanes to curve.

Does anyone know more about this concept?
Title: Re: Bus Queue Jumper?
Post by: kalvado on September 13, 2020, 10:52:23 AM
The natural way of doing this would be positioning a bus stop at the beginning of the block, not towards the end.
Title: Re: Bus Queue Jumper?
Post by: Amtrakprod on September 13, 2020, 11:03:41 AM
Quote from: stridentweasel on September 13, 2020, 09:43:54 AM
https://youtu.be/fVlw6DyF_xE

I just ran across this this morning.  I'm guessing horizontal bar in the ground would be the location of a traffic signal.  But the only way I can see this working is if the rear queue lanes are separated for a short distance (100 feet or so?), which would require at least six feet of extra width (assuming 3-foot-minimum barriers), which would then require the outer lanes to curve.

Does anyone know more about this concept?
Bus queue jumps are becoming more and more common. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200913/854050a1d9df71c3a3d9c553f73f4e4e.jpg)
I have one poor quality photo of one. You can see YT videos about them.

DC: https://youtu.be/HMWNAgIHlPM

LA: https://youtu.be/l9QsemSE8Y4

Washington state: https://youtu.be/O5xhahIUPgw


iPhone
Title: Re: Bus Queue Jumper?
Post by: roadfro on September 13, 2020, 04:39:30 PM
Quote from: stridentweasel on September 13, 2020, 09:43:54 AM
https://youtu.be/fVlw6DyF_xE

I just ran across this this morning.  I'm guessing horizontal bar in the ground would be the location of a traffic signal.  But the only way I can see this working is if the rear queue lanes are separated for a short distance (100 feet or so?), which would require at least six feet of extra width (assuming 3-foot-minimum barriers), which would then require the outer lanes to curve.

Does anyone know more about this concept?

I've not seen this kind of implementation before. It does not seem all that effective to have the middle two lanes of traffic stop and the outer two lanes to not stop, just to accommodate a bus. Other implementations, as seen in the videos above, where the bus has it's own queue jump lane (sometimes shared by right turning vehicles) would be more effective. That, and not put a bus stop so close to the leading edge of an intersection...
Title: Re: Bus Queue Jumper?
Post by: mrsman on September 14, 2020, 07:53:03 AM
They seem to work OK at intersections when cars are stopped anyway, as the examples that Amtrakprod provided.  If traffic has a red, keep the red for a few seconds to give buses a head start and merge back into traffic.  The curb lane must be bus only or bus/right turn only for this to work.  (A green right arrow can be shown during the bus signal "green")

The concept at the top of the thread seems unworkable given a mid-block stop only affecting the middle lanes. 
Title: Re: Bus Queue Jumper?
Post by: UCFKnights on September 14, 2020, 08:08:04 AM
Quote from: roadfro on September 13, 2020, 04:39:30 PM
Quote from: stridentweasel on September 13, 2020, 09:43:54 AM
https://youtu.be/fVlw6DyF_xE

I just ran across this this morning.  I'm guessing horizontal bar in the ground would be the location of a traffic signal.  But the only way I can see this working is if the rear queue lanes are separated for a short distance (100 feet or so?), which would require at least six feet of extra width (assuming 3-foot-minimum barriers), which would then require the outer lanes to curve.

Does anyone know more about this concept?

I've not seen this kind of implementation before. It does not seem all that effective to have the middle two lanes of traffic stop and the outer two lanes to not stop, just to accommodate a bus. Other implementations, as seen in the videos above, where the bus has it's own queue jump lane (sometimes shared by right turning vehicles) would be more effective. That, and not put a bus stop so close to the leading edge of an intersection...
This implementation is weirder then that. Apparently while the middle lanes are red for a bus, the 2 inner lanes become second left and right turn lanes dynamically to "double the capacity of the turn lanes" but as soon as they turn back green they're straight lanes again.
Title: Re: Bus Queue Jumper?
Post by: jakeroot on September 17, 2020, 02:44:20 AM
As shown in the video, that seems REALLY confusing to a driver. Hell, I'm not sure the average bus driver could make sense of that on a regular basis. How exactly it would be signed and signalized doesn't seem to be as thought out, though I get this is a proof of concept.

I don't know if most roads are wide enough for this anyway. Seattle's last four-lane one-way street is being reduced to two + bus with a two-way cycle lane on one side. The concepts shown in this video could be used...but why bother if you have a bus lane?

It does seem, from my perspective, that regular bus lanes and queue jumps work well enough.