Safe Waves: Signal Timing Guide, Analysis Tool, and Case Studies
Speeding on arterial roads can be reduced by timing traffic signals to minimize the number of speeding opportunities – occasions when a vehicle arrives at an intersection on a stale green with no vehicle ahead for at least five seconds. The “Safe Waves” approach to traffic signal timing aims to minimize speeding opportunities while still providing good two-way progression using short cycles, short coordination zones, pedestrian recall where pedestrian demand is moderate and undersized phases where it’s low, and offsets that prevent high-speed progression. A test on a suburban arterial found that with Safe Waves signal timing, the number of vehicles exceeding the speed limit fell by 75%, while arterial travel time increased by only 2 seconds per intersection. A simulation-based case study in another suburban corridor found that Safe Waves signal timing reduced speeding opportunities by more than 50%, while network delay per vehicle rose 2 s in the p.m. peak and 21 s in the a.m. peak. A web app, the Safe Waves Analysis Tool (SWAT), was developed to enable designers to visualize and count the speeding opportunities afforded by a proposed arterial signal timing plan.
- Record URL:
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Corporate Authors:
Northeastern University
Boston, MA United States 02115Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Office of Transportation Planning
Boston, MA United StatesFederal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Authors:
- Furth, Peter G
- Tahmasebi, Milad
- Ozbek, Yusuf
- Publication Date: 2024-2-29
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Edition: Final Report
- Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 155p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Arterial highways; Mobile applications; Speeding; Traffic signal timing; Traffic simulation; Travel time
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01919599
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
- Created Date: May 28 2024 9:14AM