Stillorgan QBC Dwell Time Analysis

on the Stillorgan Quality Bus Corridor (QBC), a key arterial bus corridor accessing Dublin city centre from its suburbs. The focus of the study was to understand the pattern of dwell-time on the corridor and to identify potential areas, if any, where service levels may be enhanced. The study should provide a beneficial and detailed observation of in-journey bus operations. This in turn can help to understand the impact of ticketing, boarding/alighting and other aspects of journey dwell within a high-level of service bus corridor. The Stillorgan QBC, between Foxrock Church and Leeson Street Bridge, comprises of 28 bus stops, 32 signalised junctions and measures approximately 9km. There are 60 locations, exclusive of running-time delays, where there is the potential for dwell to occur. 21 inbound journey time surveys were carried out in the morning commuter peak period over 7 days between the hours of 07:00 and 10:00, with 3 surveys carried out every day, one in each hour. Approximately 1,200 passenger boardings and 900 alightings were recorded. Individual fare transaction times were also surveyed. Several key findings emerged from the study. Dwell at junctions accounts for 13% of total journey time, with boarding and alighting accounting for 23%. 59% of passengers surveyed alight at four individual stops, and 24% of those surveyed board at two individual stops. Journey times are very variable, with a difference of 23 minutes between shortest and longest journeys (a variance of 110%). This has improved considerably since the last QBC Monitoring Report in 2010 when variances of 259% were recorded. Pre-paid tickets are the most popular and fastest method of payment with 55% of those surveyed using this method. Pre-paid ticket users take on average 7 seconds to board. There is no time-saving for LEAP Card (e-purse) users, who take on average 10 seconds to board (being the same for cash payers). The findings present evidence to support the implementation of off-board ticket purchase and/or the removal of both cash and e-purse ticket transactions from services. Service planning improvements, such as the consolidation of stops, multi-door entry/exit systems and measures to improve performance at junctions, are also suggested.