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CONTRAFLOW BUS LANES IN CHICAGO: SAFETY AND TRAFFIC IMPACTS

1984; SAGE Publishing; Issue: 957 Linguagem: Inglês

2169-4052

John LaPlante, Tim Harrington,

Urban Transport and Accessibility

Contraflow bus lanes were installed on the downtown portions of four Chicago streets in 1980 and 1981. They were installed as a part of a federally mandated air quality improvement program and also to increase bus patronage by improving east-west bus service reliability across the central business district. Since their installation there has been public concern about the pedestrian safety aspects of the bus lane operation as well as increased traffic congestion on the remaining lane street space. Regarding vehicular congestion, it was found that nonbus traffic did travel somewhat more slowly with the installation of the lanes. However, in terms of bus operations, there was a significant improvement both in average travel speeds (22 percent increase) and in service reliability, which resulted in annual cost savings to the Chicago Transit Authority of about $400,000. Patronage studies indicate that during peak periods the contraflow lanes move more people in one lane per street than are moved on the remaining through traffic lanes, and in only one-tenth of the number of vehicles. Concerning the safety of the bus lane operation, the actual accident data indicate that although there was an initial jump in bus-pedestrian accidents, these accidents have now returned to less than one additional accident per month on each street, and that there has been a 19 percent overall decrease in all pedestrian accidents and a 52 percent decrease in all bus accidents. The primary conclusion is that the bus lanes are operating in a safe and effective manner, and it is recommended that they be retained.