METROPOLITAN TORONTO SIGNAL SYSTEM

FACED WITH AN EVER-INCREASING ECONOMIC LOSS DUE TO TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND ACCIDENTS, THE METROPOLITAN TORONTO AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATED THE POSSIBILITY OF IMPROVING CONDITIONS THROUGH THE USE OF A GENERAL PURPOSE DIGITAL COMPUTER TO OPTIMIZE, IN REALTIME AND ON LINE, THE OPERATION OF TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNALS. FOLLOWING THE SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF A SMALL-SCALE PILOT PROJECT, APPROVAL WAS OBTAINED FOR A COMPLETELY INTEGRATED SYSTEM DESIGNED TO INCORPORATE ABOUT 1000 SIGNALS DISTRIBUTED IN COMPLEX NETWORK FORMATION THROUGHOUT AN AREA OF SOME 240 SQUARE MILES. CONVERTING THE CONCEPT INTO REALITY REQUIRED THE DESIGN AND INSTALLATION OF A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT, TOGETHER WITH THE DEVELOPMENT AND PREPARATION OF COMPLEX COMPUTER PROGRAMS INCLUDING BOTH CONTROL AND ANALYSIS ROUTINES. WITH THE INITIAL STAGES OF THIS WORK MORE OR LESS COMPLETE, TESTING OF VARIOUS CONTROL PHILOSOPHIES BEGAN. IN THREE YEARS, SOME 500 OF 712 EXISTING SIGNALS HAVE BEEN BROUGHT UNDER COMPUTER CONTROL FOR AN AVERAGE OF FIFTEEN HOURS EVERY DAY, WITH THE RESULT THAT THE TIME REQUIRED TO MAKE ANY GIVEN JOURNEY HAS BEEN REDUCED BY AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT 10%, EVEN THOUGH THE OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY IS STILL TO SOME EXTENT LIMITED. APART FROM THIS MAJOR IMPROVEMENT, SUFFICIENT OTHER BENEFITS, BOTH DIRECT AND INDIRECT, HAVE RESULTED FROM SYSTEM OPERATION TO PROVE THE VALIDITY OF THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT, ESPECIALLY ON ECONOMIC GROUNDS, SINCE A CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE INDICATES THAT FOR A TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY OF SOME $5M, WASTAGE ATTRIBUTABLE TO CONGESTION AND DELAY WILL BE REDUCED BY SOME $20M PER YEAR. /RRL/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • pp 17-45, 5 FIG, 8 TAB, 2 PHOT
• Authors:
  • HEWTON, J T
• Conference:
  • Inst Civil Engineers Proc London /UK/
• Publication Date: 1967-2

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer programs; Control devices; Design; Digital computers; Economics; Information processing; Reduction (Chemistry); Traffic congestion; Traffic control; Traffic signal control systems; Traffic signal controllers; Travel time
• Old TRIS Terms: Reduction; Traffic control systems
• Subject Areas: Design; Economics; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225275
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Road Research Laboratory /UK
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 19 1994 12:00AM