Bus on Shoulder System (BOSS)

Bus on shoulder operation is a low-cost treatment that can provide immediate benefits to transit whenever mainline travel is experiencing moderate to heavy degrees of congestion.  Bus on shoulder operation allows authorized transit buses with trained drivers to operate on the shoulders of selected freeways and other highways in order to bypass congestion and maintain transit schedules.

(Download 1-page pdf on BOSS here)  (View FAQs here)

Buses can only use shoulders when travel speeds are below 35 MPH in the main lanes, and buses can only travel up to 15 MPH faster than other vehicles.  In addition, bus on shoulder operation is a subservient use of the shoulder: the use of the shoulder as a breakdown lane for emergency operations continues as today, and buses must yield to everything in the shoulder.

Bus on shoulder operations were first implemented in Minnesota around 20 years ago, with nearly 300 shoulder-miles in use today.   Today, more than 10 states now use bus on shoulder, and no state has discontinued an operating bus on shoulder program for operational or safety reasons once commenced.

Minnesota has identified a number of benefits with bus on shoulder operation, including:
- Shorter and more predictable and reliable transit times
- Fewer missed transfer connections
- Increased transit ridership
- Reduced driver overtime
- Decreased operational costs

North Carolina will implement a pilot bus on shoulder program on portions of I-40 in the Research Triangle area beginning in 2012.  If the test proves to be successful, the program could be expanded to other segments of I-40 and/or other routes, with the goal of creating a regional bus on shoulder system.

Click here for a list of frequently-asked questions about the Bus on Shoulder System.

Click here for information on the efforts of the Bus on Shoulder System (BOSS) team for the Research Triangle region.

Please click on the following links for more information about bus on shouder use from the Transit Cooperative Research Program and the US Federal Highway Administration.