BUS JOURNEY times in Southampton have been cut by 11
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per cent out on a radial route through the eastern suburbs.
The route was seriously congested in the morning peak and a bus demonstration scheme was designed in order to give priority to buses and to improve conditions for other traffic.
Reporting on the project, the DoE says traffic on the route is controlled by a system of linked traffic signals. Free-flowing conditions were produced by controlling the rate of access of vehicles on to the main road during periods of heavy demand; vehicles thus delayed are held on the side roads.
Buses are given priority during the morning peak by re serving certain side roads for their sole use and by exempting them from turning restrictions at junctions. These measures brought about a significant reduction in journey times for bus passengers.
From 0700 to 0930 the total journey time, for bus passengers travelling towards the City, was reduced by 11 per cent— equivalent to about 3 minutes for a half-hour door-to-door journey.
The total net saving of bus and car passenger journey time in each morning peak is about 430 passenger-hours, 80 per cent by bus passengers and the remainder by car occupants, says the report.
There has been a significant reduction in the number of injury accidents in the project area from the hegining of 1972 when extra traffic signals were installed at intersections.
The free-flowing conditions on the main road, produced subsequently by the demonstration project, have not caused any further significant change in accidents, says the report.