Harbor Boulevard Transit Signal Priority Study

Overview

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is conducting a study to enhance bus travel times and reliability by implementing technology that would prioritize buses at signalized intersections. The Harbor Boulevard Pilot Innovative Transit Signal Priority (TSP) Study seeks to improve the overall efficiency of transit systems, reduce congestion and enhance the reliability of public transportation, benefiting both transit riders and overall traffic flow. If successful, this study could lead to the implementation of similar solutions on other OCTA routes throughout the county.

Background

The 12-mile study area along Harbor Boulevard spans five cities in central Orange County from Santa Ana to Fullerton. Harbor Boulevard is home to the area’s most heavily used transit routes, OC Bus Route 43 and OC Rapid route 543, which together account for more than 10,000 daily boardings and 8% of all OCTA riders. The corridor sees 50,000 daily vehicles and serves major educational institutions, large medical centers, and entertainment and recreation venues. The high vehicle volume causes buses to be late 19% of the time, which can affect service reliability.

The pilot will leverage existing infrastructure to implement a cloud-based TSP and various detection technologies at nine (9) signalized intersections in the City of Fullerton. In this prototype area, the project will evaluate the selected solutions to identify cost-effective operational or capital improvement strategies that can be implemented within available public right-of-way and within an implementation plan that identifies short, medium, and long-term projects.