Bunching of buses
It is quite common to see a few buses of the same service arriving at a bus stop within a short interval of each other. Often the second and following buses are relatively empty. At other times, the commuters have to wait longer than the expected interval for their bus to arrive.
Source of problem
Due to traffic congestion, it was possible for the first or second bus to be delayed. The later buses might be on schedule, resulting in the several buses of the same service arriving close to each other.
Solution to bunching
Here is a proposed solution to avoid the bunching of buses.
1) The GPS device located in each bus allows the bus to update the database on their arrival time at each stop.
2) A smart algorithm will be runned at 1 minute interval to identify the buses that are delayed, e.g. due to traffic congestion. It will revise the schedule of the following buses in the same service to arrive at (say) interval of 2 minutes after the preceding bus. The algorithm should also tell the delayed buses to catch up to their original schedule if allowed by traffic condition.
3) The bus driver uses a mobile phone that automatically check the revised schedule in the database at 1 minute interval and provide a color code to the bus driver, e.g. green (on schedule), red (behind schedule), blue (ahead of schedule). The bus driver will can decide to driver faster or slower according to the color code.
Conclusion
We should use the modern technology of GPS and smart phone to assist the bus drivers to drive according to a flexible schedule that takes account of the real traffic condition. It requires a smart algorithm that can compute and revise the schedule for each bus in an optimal manner.
Tan Kin Lian