There are more and more traffic lights in Prague that favor buses. According to TSK, this does not mean a deterioration of traffic for cars
Prague, like many other large cities, prefers public transport, but also cyclists and pedestrians, at some traffic lights. In addition, at traffic lights equipped with technology for public transport preferences, the signal plan is adjusted so that trams and buses get the green light as soon as possible. In almost 20 years, when the bus preference system has been developing in Prague, all the buses of the Transport Company and also half of the traffic lights where the buses move are already using the necessary technology.
The first traffic lights with public transport preferences appeared in Prague in 2003, and since then their number has been constantly increasing. This year alone, 18 such traffic lights were put into operation, which is more than in the previous two years combined.
“Supporting public transport is a priority for us. Thanks to the preference, passengers will get to their destination faster, without long waiting in queues. In addition, a properly designed preference does not mean a worsening of traffic for cars. On the contrary, if faster travel by bus motivates someone to use public transport in addition to the car, it can lead to an improvement in the traffic situation in the capital,” said Adam Scheinherr, deputy mayor for transportation.
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How does it work?
The entire system is based on the modification of existing traffic lights. When a bus approaches it, it sends the necessary information, such as the direction of travel of the bus at the intersection, to the traffic light at a predetermined location based on the GPS location via radio communication.
In addition, the system is linked to the timetable, so the traffic light will also know whether the bus is late or overbooked, and therefore does not need a preference. Based on the data, the signal program can then be adjusted so that the bus can pass with as little delay as possible or, ideally, without stopping at all. In real traffic, for example, the green is extended by a few seconds and the red only falls after the bus has passed through the intersection.
“My colleague from TSK and I have been working together for a long time and, together with ROPID, we select the traffic lights where the introduction of preference would have the greatest benefit for passengers. As a matter of priority, we try to give priority to those traffic lights through which the most buses pass. Thanks to this, for example, on the route of backbone line 177, which runs from Bohnice to Chodov, preferences are now missing at only five of the total 56 traffic lights that are located. Especially on long lines, the effects of improving the passage of intersections along the entire route are significant, they range in the order of higher units of minutes and thus make it possible, among other things, to reduce the number of modified vehicles. Compared to the situation without preference accuracy, there is not only an improvement and reliability of public transport operations, but also cost savings for materials, vehicles and drivers.” added Jiří Vodrážka, head of the DPP operations organization.
“Daily bus routes pass a total of 526 traffic lights in Prague. We have now surpassed the 50% mark in terms of the number of traffic lights with bus preferences, namely, by the end of July 2022, the preference worked on 265 of them.” added Martin Pípa, deputy director general of TSK and member of the board of directors.