MICROANALYSIS OF SIGNAL SYNCHRONISATION

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect on travel time, delay, fuel consumption and vehicle emission of synchronising the signals of arterial streets. A before-and-after simulation analysis was performed on an in-service arterial in Buffalo, New York, to evaluate various measures of effectiveness pertaining to signal synchronisation. The author describes site characteristics and data collection, signal design and synchronisation. Travel time, delay, fuel consumption and vehicle emission are discussed. The author concludes that the synchronisation of signals for the purpose of providing progressive movements in arterial streets is an effective method for keeping the vehicles moving and for using the green time as efficiently as possible. By timing the offsets so that moving platoons of vehicles may sweep along the arterials just as space becomes available, the travel time and delay can be reduced. A smooth flow of platoons of vehicles can be maintained through signal progression by reducing the differences in speeds and minimising the number of stops. Consequently, the fuel consumption and vehicle emission are reduced by signal synchronisation. The amount of improvement in various measures of effectiveness is a function of the characteristics of the site, traffic pattern and composition and the quality of the traffic signal system before synchronisation. (TRRL)

  • Availability:
  • Corporate Authors:

    Printerhall Limited

    29 Newmart Street
    London W1P 3PE,   England 
  • Authors:
    • Mamlouk, M S
  • Publication Date: 1984-10

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00392991
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • Report/Paper Numbers: HS-038 005
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS
  • Created Date: May 31 1985 12:00AM