The NSW Government has committed $100 million to improving bus priority on strategic bus corridors, including a global positioning system (GPS) linked to traffic lights.
A spokesperson from Transport NSW tolls Computerworld Australia both infrastructure and technological solutions were being used to improve the average bus speed on strategic routes or corridors.
The Public Transport Information and Priority System (PTIPS) uses global positioning to locate a bus, calculate its speed of travel, then forecast when it will arrive at the next set of traffic lights.
“The data it provides also assists in accurate planning of bus routes and timetables in response to evolving road conditions," the spokesperson said.
The system will forecast when the bus will arrive at a traffic light, then coordinates and alters the timing of the traffic lights to give the bus a green light, and catch up on lost time.
The spokesperson said the NSW Government is currently assessing data collected by PTIPS.
“The full benefit of PTIPS will be clearer once this assessment is completed next year," the spokesperson said. "Technology options include the Sydney wide implementation of PTIPS.”
According to the spokesperson, the state transit bus fleet will be PTIPS enabled by the end of 2010 and the private bus fleet by the end of 2011.
The government is also trying to decrease key congestion or choke points for traffic using dedicated red bus lanes on approaches to congested intersections, dedicated bus bypass lanes, bus pre-emption signals, conversion of unrestricted lanes to transit and no stopping lanes.
Over $135 million in bus priority infrastructure has already been implemented on strategic bus corridors between 2006 and 2008 with a further $25 million a year, or $100 million in total, being dedicated over the next four years.