2006 Volume 23 Pages 819-824
In order to achieve the target of carbon dioxide emission reduction stipulated in the Kyoto Accord, it is necessary to reduce the number of moving vehicles in addition to the innovation of automotive technology. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to focus attention on bus transport that can substitute automobiles, and to estimate the decreasing effect of environmental load by improving the local bus running conditions using a microscopic traffic flow simulator. The result of the estimation revealed that the effect a bus set on the traffic flow is generated when a bus stops at a bus stop. Measures to improve bus running environment such as the removal of parked vehicles and provision of exclusive bus lanes, proved effective to decrease environmental load. Additionally, these measures have a bigger effect if they are combined with the modal shift from cars to buses.