Skip to main content
Log in

Don’t stop just yet! A simple, effective, and socially responsible approach to bus-stop consolidation

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Public Transport Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Bus-stop consolidation is one of the most cost-effective ways for a transit agency to improve the quality of their bus services. By removing unnecessary stops, buses will have reduced runtimes, which can lead to higher frequencies and/or fewer buses on a route. Unfortunately, current research on bus stop consolidation and stop spacing focuses on complex mathematical models that are difficult for agencies to apply, and that overlook many important real-world considerations. The goal of this paper is to propose a new bus stop consolidation methodology that is realistic, simple, and effective, while at the same time being sensitive to people with reduced mobility and adaptable to the needs of different agencies. The new methodology is tested on the bus network of the Société de transport de Montreal (STM). Adopting this simple methodology is expected to remove 23 % of the network’s stops while only reducing the system coverage area by 1 %. The removal of these stops could result in morning-peak savings of 109 h of operating time and the elimination of a bus from up to 75 routes at the system level. This methodology can be applied to any urban bus network, and thus can be of interest to transit agencies and transportation researchers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • BCTransit (2010) Infrastructure Design Guidelines

  • Benn H (1995) Synthesis of transit practice 10: Bus route evaluation standards: Transportation Research Board

  • Browning RC, Baker EA, Herron JA, Kram R (2006) Effects of obesity and sex on the energetic cost and preferred speed of walking. J Appl Physiol 100(2):390–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiraphadhanakul V, Barnhart C (2013) Incremental bus service design: combining limited-stop and local bus services. Public Transport 5:53–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CTA (2001) Chicago Transit Authority Service Standards

  • Dueker K, Kimpel T, Strathman J, Callas S (2004) Determinants of bus dwell time, J Public Transp 7(1):21–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Geneidy A (2006) The use of advanced information technology in urban public transportation systems: An evaluation of bus stop consolidation. (Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation), Portland State University

  • El-Geneidy A, Strathman J, Kimpel T, Crout D (2006) The effects of bus stop consolidation on passenger activity and transit operations. Transp Res Rec 1971:32–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Geneidy A, Grimsrud M, Wasfi R, Tétrault P, Surprenant-Legault J (2014) New evidence on walking distances to transit stops: identifying redundancies and gaps using variable service areas. Transportation 41:193–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher G, El-Geneidy A (2013) The effects of fare payment types and crowding on dwell time: a fine-grained analysis, Transp Res Record: J Transp Res Board 2351:124–132. doi:10.314/2351-14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furth PG, Rahbee AB (2000) Optimal bus stop spacing through dynamic programming and geographic modeling. Trans Res Rec J Trans Res Board 1731(1):15–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giannopoulos GA (1990) Bus planning and operation in urban areas: a practical guide, Avebury, Gower Publishing Company Limited, Aldershot, UK

  • Gordon R (2010) Muni may reduce stops to increase speed, save cash. San Francisco Gate

  • Howe A (2011) Principles of bus service planning: Allan Howes Associates

  • Ibeas Á, Alonso B, Sainz O (2010) Optimizing bus stop spacing in urban areas. Trans Res E Log Trans Rev 46(3):446–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kehoe O (2004) Effects of bus stop consolidation on transit speed and reliability: A test case. (Master of Science), University of Washington

  • Kittelson and Associates, Transit Cooperative Research Program, United States, Federal Transit Administration, Transit Development Corporation, National Research Council (U.S.), Transportation Research Board (2003) Transit capacity and quality of service manual, 2nd edn. Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC

  • Mamun S, Lownes N (2014) Access and connectivity trade-offs in transit stop location. Transp Res Record: J Transp Res Record 2466:1–11. doi:10.314/2466-01

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marchal M (2012) La STM paie-t-elle le juste prix pour les bus hybrides? Métro

  • MTA (2000) System-wide service standards: MTA New York City Transit & MTA Bus Company

  • O’Sullivan S, Morrall J (1995) Walking distances to and from light-rail transit stations. Transp Res Record: J Transp Res Record 1538:19–26. doi:10.314/1538-03

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SFMTA (2010) Transit Effectiveness Project Implementation Strategy: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

  • Stewart C, El-Geneidy A (2014) All aboard at all doors: route selection and running time savings estimation for multi-scenario all-door bus boarding. Paper presented at the Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting

  • Tétreault PR, El-Geneidy AM (2010) Estimating bus run times for new limited-stop service using archived AVL and APC data. Trans Res A Policy Pract 44(6):390–402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Translink (2012) Transit-oriented communities: a primer on key concepts

  • TTC (2014) Improving pedestrian safety and customer journey times: transit stops. Toronto Transit Comm, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner Z, Bertini R (2014) Benefit–cost evaluation method for transit stop removal. Transportation Research Board (2415)

  • Walker J (2012) Human transit: How clearer thinking about public transit can enrich our communities and our lives. Island Press, Washington

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • WMATA (2009) Design and placement of transit stops: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Michel Tremblay, Anna Guinzbourg, Sébastien Gagné at STM for providing the data to test our methodology, and providing feedback on this research. STM has provided the data used in this research for educational purpose and to help the authors in testing the methodology, STM is not responsible of any of the findings as they represents the authors ideas and efforts using Montreal as a case study. Many thanks to the members of Transportation Research at McGill (TRAM) for their support and feedback at different stages of this study. Last but not least we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their feedback in the rounds of review that greatly strengthened the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ahmed El-Geneidy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Stewart, C., El-Geneidy, A. Don’t stop just yet! A simple, effective, and socially responsible approach to bus-stop consolidation. Public Transp 8, 1–23 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12469-015-0112-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12469-015-0112-9

Keywords