No more waiting for the bus 

The air is thick with exhaust fumes on Vesterbrogade in central Copenhagen. The queues of cars and buses have come to almost a complete halt in the middle of the afternoon. When the bus finally reaches the bus stop, it is crammed with people. But as there is no knowing when the next bus will come, or whether it will be just as full, people squeeze in and stand on the lower step.

Along with the increasing number of cars in Copenhagen has come increasing congestion of the major roads. This means that buses often arrive at the bus stops in groups, with the first bus full and the second half empty. Passengers complain about poor service and the utilisation of buses is far from optimal. But soon there will be no more long waits between buses on Vesterbrogade.

"We are working to make it easier for buses to move around in Copenhagen, which will benefit both buses and cars; if traffic is smoother, the number of buses can be reduced. And each bus saved represents a saving of about DKK 1 million a year," says COWI Project Manager Jens Elsbo.

100 km of streets and roads

In connection with plans of the Greater Copenhagen Authority to introduce high frequency buses in the Copenhagen area, COWI has studied 100 km of the new planned bus net and has suggested ways to improve the road priority of buses. The aim is to reduce journey times by ten per cent as compared with the present situation.

Plans to test the suggested measures on Vesterbrogade - which has been particularly plagued by congestion - have now been presented. Thus, it is expected that in the course of 2002, a decision will be made to establish separate bus lanes and bus signals which let buses go ahead before other traffic. In the coming years, signals, streets and bus stops in the rest of the city will also be designed to prioritise buses over other road users.

This will happen at the same time as double deckers or extra long buses are introduced on the first high frequency routes in October. Journey times will go down, bus drivers' working conditions will be less stressful, and operating costs will be reduced.

Plan for improved road priority

Similar projects are in the pipeline elsewhere in the country. COWI is studying possibilities for road priority for buses on state roads in the Greater Copenhagen area, and in Århus the company is helping to find ways of prioritising buses as a preparation for trams, which are planned to be introduced later. Flexible solutions allowing trams to use the bus lanes at a later stage are also being considered. Finally, COWI has drawn up a plan for bus priority in the County of Copenhagen, following studies of a large part of the road net.

Various measures

"If traffic is to run more smoothly it is important that other traffic in already congested areas does not increase. As far as buses are concerned, we have various measures at our disposal," says Jens Elsbo.

Separate bus lanes will maximise the road priority of buses. These bus lanes may also cover short distances leading up to an intersection, from where special traffic signals allow buses to move ahead before other road users by means of special traffic signals for buses. Bus lanes may also be combined with a turning lane for other road users.

Bus stops placed on the road itself represent another measure, which would involve cars waiting for the bus to move on from the bus stop. Reorganising routes or closing down bus stops are other effective measures. In addition, signals may be coordinated to benefit buses, and one or more signals may be set to move queues of cars to intersections where the buses can surpass the queue via a bus lane.

Published 28.01.2002