Bus terminals are predominantly used for inter-city and intra-city

movement because of the higher accessibility of bus terminals. These are

the places with very high volume of pedestrians which might be looking
for another transport mode to continue their journey and reach their
destination. There are various functions associated with bus terminals and
a well planned bus terminal must cater to all the purposes listed below.

Terminals serve as a point of:

 Concentration
 Dispersion
 Loading/unloading of the passengers
 Interchange of mode
 Storage of passengers and vehicles
 Maintenance of vehicles
 Facilities and amenities for the users and crew
 Documentation of movement
 Information system
 Integration of various systems of transportation
Facilitation of these activity makes them more and more user friendly.
This also helps in saving time and money of users along with providing a
good journey experience. The significance of a particular type of activity
may vary depending on location, purpose being served, types of users etc.

Not all the activities take place in all type of terminals and thus the
facilities provided are generally restricted on the basis of the hierarchy of
bus terminal. The mathematical standards forms a part of design and civil
engineering and varies from country to country. No standard
measurements are adopted worldwide as the needs of differ throughout
the world. The number, nature and type of facility increases with the
hierarchy which is based upon the population being served. A workable
hierarchy of bus terminals is as follows:

 Road based bus stop

 Road side bus bay
  Bus stop distributed
 Sub-nodal terminal
 Nodal bus terminal
 Inter-city bus terminal and inter-state bus terminal(ISBT)
In general, the four basic planning criteria for planning of terminals are –

1. Need
2. Size
3. Location
4. Design
1.Need – Need of the terminal arises with increase in the demand. An
organized bus terminal should meet the following requirements
 Accessibility
 Comfort and convenience
 Safety
 Easy processing
2. Size – The following factors are considered to characterize the size of
the terminal and its functions
 Flow of traffic
 System characteristics
 User characteristics
3.Location – The selection of the location should satisfy the following
criteria
 It should form a component in the hierarchy of transport
systems
 It should be a component in the hierarchical system of
transportation terminals
 The concentration and dispersal costs should be minimum
 It should be located such that as point of coordination and
integration between inter-city and intra-city transport
4.Design – Following points should be kept in mind for efficient workability
of terminal
1. Segregation of bus and non-bus traffic
2. Segregation of pedestrian and vehicular movement
3. Elimination of vehicular traffic conflict
 4. Segregation of pedestrian flows
5. Minimum processing for the buses
6. Segregation of transportation and no-transportation activities

Terminal performance and efficiency indicators

Terminal performance and efficiency parameters for the management of

bus terminal includes-

1. Number of buses that can be handled in one day

2. Number of buses arriving at the terminal during peak hour
(handling capacity)
3. Average alighting time and boarding time (should be
minimum)
4. Average bus idling time
5. Waiting time at the counters
6. Fees collection
7. Number of complaints