Micro-evaluation of Bus Rapid Transit Operation with a Spatial Analysis Approach: A Case Study of Hangzhou, China

The evaluation of bus rapid transit (BRT) operating conditions is of great significance to the BRT operation optimization and its sustainable development. Existing studies mainly have focused on the macro-evaluation of BRT system operation, but rarely evaluate the BRT operating conditions of single lines or links from a microscopic perspective. This paper focuses on the micro-evaluation and proposes a spatial analysis approach for the BRT actual operating conditions to intuitively and practically evaluate the operation of single lines or links. A spatial analysis model of BRT operation information is developed to extract the spatiotemporal characteristics of vehicle operating conditions. To verify its feasibility, the developed model is applied to the Hangzhou BRT system as a case study. By selecting the vehicle running time, position, speed and other information as characteristic parameters, the travel time, speed, delay position/type and operating conditions of BRT vehicles in lines are analyzed to investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of BRT actual operating conditions of the Hangzhou city. The results of case study show that the proposed approach has acceptable feasibility and practicability, which can provide guidance for the operation optimization and benefit evaluation of BRT system.