Dynamic headway control for high-frequency bus line based on speed guidance and intersection signal adjustment

Journal article, 2020

Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering To prevent bus bunching, a dynamic headway control method in the V2I (vehicle to infrastructure) environment for a high-frequency route with bus lane is developed. Bus operating speed guidance on the mid-blocks and intersection signal adjustment are two main strategies in the proposed method. A forecasting model of bus travel time under the dynamic control method is developed. The objective function is set up by taking into account differences between actual bus headways and dispatching headways, and the scaling ratios of intersection cycle lengths. The optimization model is solved using genetic algorithm. The proposed method is applied to a real bus route in Meihekou city, China, and compared with the current control plan as well as holding strategy. Results show that the proposed method can reduce bus headway deviations in all investigating periods; negative impacts on cars can be limited by setting reasonable values for the parameters.