Development and Evaluation of Performance Measures for Capacity Utilization of Traffic Signals
Emerging high-resolution datasets allow for developing traffic signal performance measures (TSPMs) which can provide a better understanding of traffic signal operations. One of the specific objectives of signal operations is related to the measurement of capacity utilization. A fundamental measure for capacity utilization is the “degree of saturation” (DS), and it has both volume-based and occupancy-based formulations. The former is known as “volume over capacity ratio” (V/C), whereas the latter is known as “green occupancy ratio” (GOR). When V/C is used to observe capacity utilization, it is not known whether the capacity is utilized from interrupted flow, free flow, or a combination of two. Similarly, the amount of time in the cycle utilized by volume (characterized with the first and last vehicle arrival time) is not revealed within V/C. On the other hand, GOR“overlooks” cases when a high number of vehicles travel without stopping or fewer vehicles depart the signal with significant startup delays and similar. In addition, because of a lack of scientific attention, GOR has often been misinterpreted as some similar, yet different TSPM. Therefore, if only V/C or GOR are used to monitor signal performance, the understanding of utilized capacity will be incomplete or misleading. This study proposes three TSPMs: “queued volume in volume to capacity ratio” (QViV/C), “cycle utilization” (CLU), and “volume-occupancy capacity utilization” (VOCU) to overcome the limitations of V/C and GOR. Also, by evaluating existing occupancy-based measures, it was found that they can be used to estimate capacity utilization, including oversaturated conditions.
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981
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Supplemental Notes:
- Nemanja Dobrota https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5178-9932© National Academy of Sciences: Transportation Research Board 2022.
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Authors:
- Dobrota, Nemanja
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0000-0002-5178-9932
- Stevanovic, Aleksandar
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0000-0003-1091-3340
- Mitrovic, Nikola
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0000-0002-5057-848X
- Alshayeb, Suhaib
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0000-0001-9365-1897
- Zlatkovic, Milan
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0000-0002-6777-230X
- Publication Date: 2023-1
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Web
- Features: References;
- Pagination: pp 1337-1355
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Serial:
- Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
- Volume: 2677
- Issue Number: 1
- Publisher: Sage Publications, Incorporated
- ISSN: 0361-1981
- EISSN: 2169-4052
- Serial URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/trr
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Highway capacity; Performance measurement; Traffic flow; Traffic signals; Traffic volume
- Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01851227
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Jul 12 2022 10:10AM