Abstract:
Public transport priority infrastructure like queue-jumping lanes and queue-bypass lanes
have been well researched and proven to be successful in reducing delay and improving
the overall efficiency of the public transport system. Despite their proven effectiveness
when constructed for buses, these forms of infrastructure have not been tested for
paratransit vehicles, particularly in the case of minibus taxis which often face challenges
relating to traffic congestion and delays. The purpose of this paper was to ascertain the
potential net benefits, specifically in terms of delay reduction, associated with the
implementation of priority infrastructure at two intersections along two crucial minibus taxi
corridors, considering realistic traffic and design conditions. The microsimulation software
VISSIM was used to determine the intersection performance measures which included
queue length, Level of Service, and vehicle delay. Both infrastructure interventions were
found to provide minibus taxi operators with net delay savings at the intersections of up to
6 s per vehicle for the queue bypass lane and over 8 s per vehicle for the queue-jumping
lane. The queue-bypass lane, however, showed more consistent benefits. These savings
can be significant when priority infrastructure is implemented at several intersections along
