How to give buses priority
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• A report on the feasibility of giving buses priority at traffic junctions published this week shows that worthwhile time savings can he achieved. Experiments in assisting right-turning buses in the centre of Leicester have proved that a minor degree of priority built into traffic light systems results in reduced journey times.
Equipment involved was a loop under the road and a small unit on buses. Greenlight times for other traffic were shortened by between six and 10 seconds. The average delay to buses was reduced by seven seconds but "more important" says the report, "was the proportion of buses reduced by more than one minute fell from 47 per cent to 36 per cent".
The same equipment can be used for other situations than right-turns and calculations showed that a greater degree of priority give more worthwhile savings.
A copy of the report, "Bus demonstration projects summary report no 1," is available from Traffic Advisory Unit Room P1/038, Department of the Environment, 2 Marsham Street, London SW!.