King County Metro uses technology to prevent bus bunching on high capacity routes

The King County Metro Transit Department in Seattle is expanding a project to use advanced service management (ASM) technology, which helps to prevent the “bunching” of buses on high-capacity routes. The idea is to space buses evenly on the route, rather than having several buses moving as a group, which can have the effect of disrupting schedules. The goal is to have buses arrive at a stop every six minutes, rather than at a particular time.

The project has been in pilot mode on three high-volume routes with plans to introduce the concept to a fourth line and structure it for wider deployment.

The INIT technology platform includes a new feature to provide “headway operational functionality”. This functionality enhances situational awareness for operators by displaying real-time data to improve bus spacing. It has the potential to support transit signal priority (TSP) integration, which would allow delayed buses to receive priority at intersections for more reliable service delivery.

Real-time awareness of issues like bus bunching, when buses arrive too close together, and gapping, which results in long intervals between buses, has allowed King County Metro to dynamically adjust its service based on real-time conditions.

ASM is not only technology but part of a coordinated culture at King County Metro where the entire staff works as a team to meet rider needs. This iterative process helped Metro to continuously evaluate and identify operational roles that best fit scalability needs while improving reliability.

Source: King County Metro