Congestion protection for public transportation: Strategies and application to MBTA bus Route 66

Protecting transit routes from congestion is necessary for improving performance and reliability of bus service. Different congestion protection strategies that have been used across the world are reviewed. A case study of MBTA bus Route 66 in Boston is done to demonstrate how congestion protection strategies can be applied to improve speed on a congested bus route. Using micro simulation analysis, it was found that most of the traffic delay could be eliminated at all of the congestion points identified along the route, by employing congestion protection strategies including exclusive lanes, dual-direction lanes, relocating bus stops, signal priority, and median platforms. Estimated running time savings for the route was 15 minutes per cycle, or approximately 12%.