Effects of Near-Side and Far-Side Bus Stops on NMFD of Bi-Modal Urban Network

Recent studies through simulation and empirical data have shown that a Network Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (NMFD or MFD) exists for multi-modal urban networks. However, more investigation should be conducted to explore the properties of multi-modal NMFD. In particular, the effects of operational characteristics of public transit like the number of lines, bus stop type, and bus stop location on multi-modal NMFD needs to be discussed. This paper discusses the effects of the near-side bus stop (those located before the intersection) and far-side bus stop (i.e. located after the intersection) on the NMFD of a bi-modal urban network in which cars and buses share the same space, i.e. there is no dedicated lane for buses. Results show that the NMFD in case of having far-side bus stops leads to a bigger range of critical density (density corresponded to maximum flow) for the car, while network capacity is almost the same. This results in a bigger optimal operational regime. Our findings, which are consistent with previous studies, yield that the far-side bus stop is superior to the near-side bus stop from the network operation perspective.