Influence of Platform Walking on BRT Station Bus Dwell Time Estimation: Australian Analysis

The common approach to estimate bus dwell time at a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station platform is to apply the traditional dwell-time methodology derived for suburban bus stops. Current dwell-time models are sensitive toward bus type and fare collection policy along with the number of boarding and alighting passengers. However, they fall short in accounting for the effects of passengers walking on a relatively longer BRT station platform. Analysis presented in this paper shows that the average walking time of a passenger at a BRT platform is 10 times more than that of a bus stop. The requirement of walking to the bus entry door at the BRT station platform may lead to the bus experiencing a higher dwell time. This paper presents a theory for a BRT network that explains the loss of station capacity during peak period operation. It also highlights shortcomings of present available bus dwell-time models suggested for the analysis of BRT operation.