BUS BOARDING RATES

Abstract

The proportion of time spent by buses at stops is significant, generally in the range of 10 to 20 percent of journey time. Passengers usually board and alight at separate doors so that the total boarding rates, which are slower than alighting rates, govern the time spent at stops. The aim of this work was to establish average boarding times for four different types of passenger: (a) those purchasing a ticket from driver; (b) those presenting a ticket requiring cancellation; (c) those presenting a pass; and (d) those boarding through a split entrance manned by a street ticket seller. Using Brisbane City Council bus services, a moving observer travelled on buses to observe boarding times for each type of passenger. In all, 1733 observations were made over 28 routes. It is shown that average boarding times decrease from about 9.0s for cash sale to 2.4s for purchase from street ticket sellers. Boarding rate can be improved by encouraging more passengers to have tickets requiring only to be shown or cancelled by the driver rather than a cash sale and giving change. Likely improvements to services from faster boarding are estimated.