FEASIBILITY AND EVALUATION STUDY OF RESERVED FREEWAY LANES FOR BUSES AND CAR POOLS

THE MAJOR OBJECTIVES WERE (A) TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF MOVING MORE PEOPLE WITH FEWER VEHICLES AND OF IMPROVING TRAFFIC OPERATIONS ON A GIVEN FREEWAY BY RESERVING ONE OR MORE LANES FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF BUSES AND CAR POOLS DURING NORMAL WEEKDAY PEAK PERIODS AND (B) TO DEVELOP A PLAN FOR DEMONSTRATION AND EVALUATION OF THE OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF THE RESERVED-LANE CONCEPT. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES WERE PURSUED THROUGH THE PERFORMANCE OF THE FOLLOWING PROJECT TASKS: ANALYSIS OF FREEWAY TYPES AND RESERVED-LANE RULES TO DETERMINE THE GENERAL POTENTIAL OF THE RESERVED-LANE CONCEPT; SELECTION OF A SPECIFIC FREEWAY SITE FOR A DETAILED FEASIBILITY STUDY; DETAILED ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC OPERATIONS TO DETERMINE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESERVED-LANE CONCEPT; ANALYSIS OF USER COST TO COMPARE RESERVED-LANE OPERATION WITH NORMAL OPERATION; ANALYSIS OF MODAL CHOICE TO ESTIMATE POTENTIAL SHIFTS FROM LOW-OCCUPANCY VEHICLES TO CAR POOLS AND BUSES; INVESTIGATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND ENFORCEMENT REQUIREMENTS INVOLVED IN IMPLEMENTING THE RESERVED-LANE CONCEPT; ASSESSMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR A PUBLIC INFORMATION AND EDUCATION PROGRAM TO SUPPORT CONCEPT IMPLEMENTATION; AND FORMULATION OF AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR DEMONSTRATION OF THE RESERVED-LANE CONCEPT. RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH INDICATE THAT THE CONCEPT IS BASICALLY SOUND AND OFFERS THE POTENTIAL BENEFIT OF REDUCED CONGESTION AT A GIVEN LEVEL OF PASSENGER DEMAND. /AUTHOR/