How to use bus lanes is more optimized.
On June 1st, the reform measures to optimize the management of urban bus lanes were officially implemented. As an important part of urban traffic, bus lanes have played an important role in improving bus service level, advocating citizens’ green travel and promoting urban sustainable development for many years. However, with the adjustment of urban planning, the number of private cars has increased, rail transit, bike-sharing, online car-sharing and other modes of transportation have developed rapidly, and the utilization rate of bus lanes in various places is low to varying degrees.
What new changes will be made in the use and management of bus lanes that have attracted much attention this time? How to achieve more scientific, accurate and efficient optimization? Can the problems of mismatch between bus lanes and bus lines, mismatch between dedicated time periods and bus peak hours, and low utilization rate of individual bus lanes be solved? Recently, reporters conducted investigations in Beijing, Nanjing and other places.
Work hard on refined management
Our reporter Han Bingzhi
May 12, the evening peak of an ordinary working day. The East Third Ring Road in Beijing is heavily congested from north to south due to the influx of vehicles, but there are few vehicles in the rightmost bus lane. The reporter observed that at 5: 03 pm, after a bus passed, no bus passed in the next four or five minutes.
The first bus lane in China was opened on Chang ‘an Avenue in Beijing in June 1997. Over the years, bus lanes have played an important role in improving bus service level, advocating citizens’ green travel and promoting urban sustainable development. With the adjustment of urban planning, the number of private cars has increased, rail transit, bike-sharing and other modes of transportation have developed rapidly, and the passenger flow on the ground bus has declined, and the use efficiency of some bus lanes has also decreased accordingly.
With the growing public demand for refined traffic management, improving the utilization rate of bus lanes has become the general trend. The Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission and the Public Security Traffic Management Bureau of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a notice on May 20, and since June 1 this year, the traffic measures for bus lanes in Beijing have been optimized and adjusted.
This optimization and adjustment mainly focuses on three aspects: First, during public holidays and legal holidays, some bus lanes are selected to allow social vehicles to use; The second is to allow intensive commuter buses such as unit commuter buses and school buses approved by relevant government departments to use bus lanes as required; The third is to optimize the opening time of bus lanes on some roads.
Respond to public concerns
Why should the rules for the use of bus lanes be adjusted?
"Bus lanes effectively guarantee the fast, convenient, safe and reliable bus operation, but some citizens report that some bus lanes have problems such as unreasonable dedicated time, low utilization efficiency and discontinuity." Rong Jun, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission, said that according to the State Council’s guidance on giving priority to public transportation, Beijing, on the premise of adhering to the public transportation priority strategy, combined with the recent notice requirements of the Ministry of Public Security, aimed at the problems reflected by the masses, optimized and adjusted the use time and vehicle types of some special lanes, taking into account efficiency and fairness, and made the best use of road resources.
In recent years, Beijing has insisted on giving priority to the development of public transport. The mileage of bus lanes has reached 1,005 lane kilometers, serving nearly 80% of the city’s bus passenger flow, which has played an important role in ensuring the fast and safe operation of public transport. However, there are also some problems such as unreasonable dedicated time of some bus lanes, low utilization efficiency and discontinuity.
"Beijing adheres to the principle of bus priority, efficiency improvement and step-by-step implementation, and actively and steadily promotes the optimization and adjustment of bus lanes. On the premise of ensuring the running speed of public transport, Beijing will moderately liberalize the use of special lanes, allowing commuter buses and school buses to use special lanes in accordance with regulations, encouraging intensive and green traffic modes and improving the efficiency of bus lanes. " Rong Jun said.
According to Hu Ying, chief engineer of Beijing Traffic Development Research Institute, the optimization of bus lanes should be based on "bus priority" and combined with the actual situation of bus travel. "For example, the current bus lane is more secure for the fast travel of rigid commuters. When the rigidity is not obvious and the travel is not concentrated, such as weekends and holidays, you can let it go and let other vehicles use it." Hu Ying said that public transportation is a mode of large-capacity and intensive travel, and such large-capacity travel tools also include shuttle buses and school buses. Allowing these vehicles to use bus lanes is also in line with the concept of "bus priority".
"Opening bus lanes on weekends and holidays" has long been an important voice of citizens and an important content of Beijing’s policy optimization. Zhao Xin, deputy director of the Public Security Traffic Management Bureau of Beijing Public Security Bureau, said that based on the actual situation of urban road traffic operation and on the basis of research and demonstration, Beijing has adjusted the bus lanes of the main road of Beijing Third Ring Road and 10 urban roads starting from the Third Ring Road. Social vehicles are allowed to pass in the bus lanes on public holidays and legal holidays, but the passing vehicles must follow the motor vehicle traffic regulations of the Road Traffic Safety Law.
Do a good job in management support
At 0: 00 on May 21st, the bus lane optimization project of Beijing-Kaiping, Beijing-Tibet, Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao three expressways officially started. Construction workers installed traffic auxiliary signs marked "working days" above the original bus lane signs. The "working day" is marked with black characters on a white background, and a circle of black boxes is wrapped around it, which is particularly conspicuous.
Zhang Lei, director of the Order Department of Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, said that before June 1, there were 693 bus lane signs and 165 ground characters that needed to be adjusted. "On the basis of the original bus lane sign, add ‘ Working days ’ The auxiliary standard of means that the bus lane is opened on weekdays. During weekends and legal holidays, the driveway will be open to social vehicles. " Zhang Lei explained.
Zhao Xin said that the traffic control department will adjust the electronic police equipment involved in roads, and open the roads for 11 public holidays and holidays. On public holidays and legal holidays, vehicles entering bus lanes will no longer be photographed for evidence according to illegal acts. Roads with adjusted time will be managed according to the newly adjusted opening time. At the same time, combined with this optimization and adjustment, the traffic control department will scientifically adjust the patrol police force around the road, strengthen the patrol control and maintenance of key roads, especially for key areas that are released on holidays and public holidays, and start high-level attendance programs in time to ensure good traffic order to the maximum extent.
The reporter learned from the Beijing Public Security Traffic Management Bureau that as of May 31, 858 bus lane signs and ground characters that need to be adjusted in Beijing have been completed, and off-site law enforcement equipment related to these bus lanes has also been debugged.
"The optimization and adjustment of bus lanes cannot be achieved overnight, but should be implemented step by step in combination with actual needs." Hu Ying pointed out that in addition to optimizing the opening time and using vehicles, the bus lane itself should also be continuously improved. "There are breakpoints to get through, and the missing places should be made up. While better ensuring the travel of bus passengers, it also provides better protection for other large-volume travel."
Give consideration to bus priority and traffic efficiency
Our reporter Jiang Bo
Since June 1st, the new measures of optimizing the management of urban bus lanes and other services for the masses have been officially implemented, which include new measures that are highly concerned by the society, such as optimizing the special time of bus lanes and allowing some vehicles to use bus lanes according to local conditions. As a city with a population of nearly 10 million, facing the huge demand for public transportation, how to make good use of urban bus lanes to further improve the governance capacity and service level of urban public transportation? How to give consideration to bus priority and traffic efficiency?
Timely and moderate opening up
Huju Road is an important part of the west line of Nanjing’s fast inner ring, carrying a large number of traffic from the direction of Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. On this road, Li Ling, a citizen who lives at the intersection of Gupinggang and Huju Road in Gulou District, Nanjing, takes two trips every working day.
"It is less than 10 kilometers from home to work, neither long nor short. As long as the weather permits, the first choice is to travel by bus." Li Ling said that because of the bus lane on Huju Road, the morning and evening rush hours are basically unimpeded. Compared with self-driving, one-way traffic to work can save more than 10 minutes.
In order to verify Li Ling’s statement, at 7 o’clock in the morning on May 24th, the reporter boarded a No.21 bus at Gulin Park Station on Huju Road, and experienced the convenience of bus lanes on the spot. From Gulin Park to jiqingmen, it takes only 23 minutes to walk 10 stops. Subsequently, the reporter took a network car to return, and traveled the same distance for 35 minutes.
In addition to Huju Road, there are bus lanes with obvious signs on urban trunk roads such as Jiangdong Road, Zhongshan Road and Xinmiaomo Road within a few kilometers around Huju Road.
Chen Zhaodong, director of the Transportation Management Office of Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Transportation, told the reporter that the first bus lane was planned in Nanjing as early as 1997. After 26 years of development, the layout of bus lanes has gradually realized from "sporadic dispersion" to "network", and the mileage has been greatly improved. Up to now, the total mileage of bus lanes in Nanjing has exceeded 290 kilometers and the mileage of lanes has exceeded 534 kilometers.
According to the reporter’s investigation, the dedicated time of bus lanes in Nanjing is 4 hours in the morning and evening rush hours, and special vehicles such as school buses and commuter buses are not subject to control restrictions.
"In order to improve the traffic efficiency of special groups, bus lanes allow school buses, large and medium-sized new energy buses, large fuel buses and other special vehicles stipulated by law from 7: 00 am to 9: 00 pm and 5: 00 pm to 7: 00 pm." Chen Zhaodong said that except for the bus lanes set in the reverse direction of the one-way line, buses are only allowed to pass. No matter whether it is the shuttle bus or chartered bus of the unit, company or school, as long as the above conditions are met, the bus lanes are encouraged to pass. In the 20 hours outside the morning and evening rush hours, the bus lanes are normally opened for all motor vehicles.
Improve traffic efficiency
The purpose of setting up bus lanes is to improve the traffic efficiency of roads. However, during the investigation, the reporter also found that bus lanes will be seized from time to time during bus lanes.
At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, it is the bus-only time. In the vicinity of Hanzhongmen Station, Huju Road, Nanjing Bus No.21 Road, you can occasionally see private cars that pick up students after school. For the convenience of traffic, you can drive directly into the bus-only lane. In addition, a few network cars will also stop at bus lanes to pick up and drop off passengers.
"With the acceleration of urban development, the number of social vehicles has been rising. During the rush hour, the bus lanes are unobstructed, while the other lane is full of cars. Some private cars and online cars that are in a hurry will inevitably take risks." Qu Defei, the driver of the No.21 bus, told the reporter that the new measures taken by the Ministry of Public Security to optimize the management of urban bus lanes are not only a positive response to public opinion, but also a new test for local governments to improve the operation efficiency of bus lanes.
The reporter learned that in order to further improve the traffic efficiency of bus lanes, the transportation department of Nanjing has carried out the preparation of supporting schemes for bus network optimization, intensified the integration of rail, bus and slow-moving networks, accelerated the construction of "smart bus" and made every effort to improve the efficiency of bus operation.
"Traditional public transport vehicles must stop at every stop, but we have already tried a responsive stop, that is, ring the bell to get off. If there are no passengers in the carriage and it is confirmed that there are no passengers waiting at the platform after the vehicle slows down, it is not allowed to stop and pass the station." Chen Zhaodong said that according to the calculation, if there are no passengers getting on or off at 10 platforms of a bus line, the operation turnaround time of this line can be reduced by 10 minutes to 20 minutes, which can effectively shorten the travel and waiting time of citizens.
In addition, the signs and markings of Nanjing bus lanes have all been redrawn, and the new bus lanes with a width of 30 cm are wider and more eye-catching than the original markings.
Guo Kai, a policeman from the Order Management Brigade of the Traffic Management Bureau of Nanjing Public Security Bureau, said that the traffic police department has further improved the recognition of bus lanes by widening the width of yellow dotted lines, setting yellow grid lines where roads are allowed to borrow, setting yellow triangle warning signs and encrypting the logo of bus lanes. The traffic control department also specially set up a bus "green wave belt" to match the signal timing that conforms to the characteristics of the bus at the signal intersection.
"By calculating the bus pick-up and drop-off time and driving speed, the phase difference between each intersection is determined to ensure that the bus can continuously pass through multiple signal intersections under the condition of normal passenger driving." Guo Kai said that at present, Nanjing traffic police have tried out and popularized the bus priority signal control mode in the main and secondary trunk roads with large bus flow throughout the city, which can reduce the delay waiting time at intersections, maximize the utilization efficiency of road resources and facilitate more citizens to travel by bus.
"Strive for public transportation satisfaction of over 90% by the end of 2023; By 2025, the 45-minute commute of public transportation in Nanjing will account for more than 80%. " Chen Zhaodong introduced that in the next step, Nanjing will launch a new round of annual public transport action plan, focus on the development goal of digital public transport, strengthen the application of public transport intelligent system, improve the information service level of urban and rural public transport, optimize and upgrade the industry supervision platform of bike-sharing, explore one-stop full-chain travel service, study and promote the construction of "MaaS" platform, build digital travel assistants, and implement the priority development strategy of public transport in detail.