Transit buses in one of California\u2019s most populous cities are moving riders faster and operating more efficiently.<\/p>\n
The improvements in San Jose, ranked third by population with nearly 1 million residents, come not from major changes to the buses themselves, or the routes they travel \u2014 but from breezing through intersections, avoiding unnecessary slowdowns due to red lights.<\/p>\n
The buses, operated by Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), the transit provider for San Jose and surrounding communities across Silicon Valley, benefit from transit signal priority technology, which allows some traffic signals along the route to transition to green when a bus approaches, eliminating what is often an unnecessary stop.<\/p>\n
The project began as a pilot in 2023. Recent data shows bus speeds in San Jose have increased 20 percent, city officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really great to start with just a few routes, and then scale citywide,\u201d Stephen Caines<\/a>, the city\u2019s chief innovation officer and budget director, said. He also serves as a senior adviser to Mayor Matt Mahan. \u201cIt\u2019s really exciting to see these gains still exist as we\u2019ve continued to expand the network and the routes.\u201d<\/p>\n The technology, LYT.transit<\/a>, provided via a partnership with LYT, offers cities the potential for a relatively quick win in improving transit, without the need for costly capital projects like dedicated bus rapid transit lanes or light rail lines.<\/p>\n The project \u201cis modular, it\u2019s scalable. We didn\u2019t have to shut any roads down to introduce this technology,\u201d Caines said. \u201cThis was the least friction way of enhancing our transit system.\u201d<\/p>\n The transit signal technology is similar to other signaling pre-emption technologies<\/a> used by emergency vehicles, which are designed to briefly reprogram traffic signals to provide a cascading stream of green lights, generally looking several miles or blocks down the route an emergency vehicle is traveling. The technology used for transit vehicle priority is designed to change the signal from red to green as the bus immediately approaches the intersection.<\/p>\n Both technologies have led to improved response times for emergency vehicles and improved service levels for transit vehicles<\/a>.<\/p>\n