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The Ability of Public Transport to Cope withTarget Passenger Increases: Final Report

APPENDIX 2
DETAILED OVERCROWDING ANALYSIS FROM BUS SURVEYS

Bus Overcrowding by Cordon Crossing Point

Tables A2.1 to A2.3 set out for the three survey periods the number of buses that were observed to be full. At crossing points not surveyed, a number of buses may have been running full and these cannot be reported here: The overcrowding statistics, therefore, present a picture of overcrowding for a sample of cordon crossing points - not for overcrowding on the full cordons.

Bus Overcrowding During the Morning Peak

In the context of this report, a full bus is defined as a bus observed to have no spare seated capacity. Overcrowding is defined in terms of full buses.

Table A2.1 shows overcrowding during the morning peak, where 186 buses were observed to be running full at a total of 14 stops. On average 6 standing passengers were observed on these buses and 13 passengers in total were "turned away" by the driver. In total, a third (33%) of buses were observed to be running full.

Table A2.1: Buses Observed as Full by Location, Number of Buses and Passengers Standing or "Turned Away" for the Morning Peak (0800-0900) ¹

Locations shown only if at least one bus was observed to be running full

Bus Overcrowding During the Inter-Peak Period

Table A2.2 shows the situation during the inter-peak period where, 31 buses were observed to be running full at a total of 10 stops. On average 4 standing passengers were observed on these buses post-boarding at the survey stop and 1 passenger in total was "turned away" by the driver. In total, 8% of buses observed were running full.

Table A2.2: Buses Observed as Full by Location, Number of Buses and Passengers Standing or "Turned Away" for the Inter-Peak Period (1000-1200) ¹

Locations shown only if at least one bus was observed to be running full

Bus Overcrowding During the Evening Peak

Table A2.3 shows the situation during the evening peak period, where 91 buses were observed to be running full at a total of 13 stops. On average 5 standing passengers were observed on these buses and 7 passengers in total were "turned away" by the driver. Just under a quarter (23%) of observed buses were running full.

Table A2.3: Buses Observed as Full by Location, Number of Buses and Passengers Standing or "Turned Away" for the Evening Peak (1700-1800) ¹

Locations shown only if at least one bus was observed to be running full

Bus Overcrowding by Route Number and Crossing Point

Tables A2.4 to A2.6 show the routes that were identified as being "overcrowded". The definition for overcrowded is at least two buses observed to be running full during the survey period.

Overcrowded Routes During the Morning Peak

During the morning peak there were 52 routes which were identified as being overcrowded ( see Table A2.4). Of these 52 routes, over half (33) the services were operating with at least half the buses running full (shaded cells refer). In some instances more buses than timetabled were observed during the one hour survey. This may have been the result of congestion on the road network, which may also be a factor in the incidence of overcrowding, or due to the provision of non-timetabled relief services to cope with demand.

Table A2.4: Distribution of Overcrowding on Buses in Morning Peak (0800-0900)

Overcrowded Routes During the Inter-Peak Period

During the inter-peak period there were 4 services which were identified as being overcrowded ( see Table A2.5). Of these, no services were operating with at least half the buses running full.

Table A2.5: Distribution of Overcrowding on Buses During Inter-Peak 1000-1200)

Overcrowded Routes During the Evening Peak

During the evening peak there were 22 services which were identified as being overcrowded ( see Table A2.6). Of these, 14 services were operating with at least half the buses running full (shaded cells refer). In some instances more buses than timetabled were observed during the one hour survey; this may have been the result of congestion on the road network, which may also be a factor in the incidence of overcrowding, or due to the provision of non-timetabled relief services to cope with demand.

Table A2.6: Distribution of Overcrowding on Buses in Evening Peak (1700-1800)

Bus Overcrowding by Cordon Crossing Point and Time

Table A2.7 sets out the observations of overcrowded buses by ten minute interval during the morning peak period. The greatest mismatch where demand exceeds supply was observed during the half hour period from 0820 to 0850.

Table A2.8 sets out the observations of overcrowded buses by ten minute interval during the evening peak period. A clear peak in the number of full buses was observed during the middle of the period with the later part of the hour more likely to have buses running full than the earlier part. This was in contrast to the flatter more sustained peak observed during the morning peak. Care needs to be exercised in drawing conclusions from these data - they comprise a sample of bus routes taken only on one day. Nevertheless, they may be viewed as indicative of quantitative differences between morning and evening peak bus supply and demand in general.

Table 2.7: Buses Observed as Full by Cordon Crossing Point and Ten Minute Interval for the Morning Peak (0800-0900)

Table A2.8: Buses Observed as Full by Cordon Crossing Point and Ten Minute Interval for the Evening Peak (1700-1800)

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