Mitigating Bus Bunching Through Inter-Vehicle Communication

Bus bunching is a significant issue in public transportation, causing long wait times and overcrowding, which negatively impact riders. Existing static control methods have limited effectiveness in utilizing real-time bus data to address bunching. This study introduces an intelligent messaging system aimed at mitigating bus bunching through continuous intervehicle communications. The system collects and processes real-time location, speed, and delay information from buses across transit networks using a cloud-based analytics engine. By integrating dynamic data streams with historical insights, predictive models appropriate for identifying bunching risk probabilities across routes are developed. Automated directives are then sent to drivers in high-risk areas, prompting them to take corrective actions such as adjusting speeds, holding at specific timepoints, or adapting frequencies to maintain schedules effectively.