THE SYNCHRONIZATION OF TRAFFIC SIGNALS FOR MINIMUM DELAY

IN ORDER TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER NEIGHBORING INTERSECTIONS CAN BE EFFECTIVELY COUPLED ON THE BASIS OF TRAFFIC BEHAVIOR, OBSERVATIONAL INFORMATION ON VEHICULAR PLATOONS WAS COLLECTED AT FOUR SITES IN LONDON, ENGLAND. AT EACH OF THE FOUR SITES STUDIED, ARRIVAL TIME DATA WERE COLLECTED AT FOUR POSITIONS DOWN-STREAM FROM THE SIGNALIZED INTERSECTION FROM WHICH THE VEHICULAR PLATOONS WERE EMERGING. THESE DATA GIVE A MEASURE OF HOW PLATOONS DIFFUSE AS THEY MOVE FROM ONE INTERSECTION TO THE NEXT. THE ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT THE DIFFUSION PROCESS CAN, INDEED, BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE SETTING (SYNCHRONIZATION) OF NEIGHBORING SIGNALS. IN PARTICULAR, TOTAL DELAY, IN VEHICLE-HOURS PER HOUR OF GREEN, AS A FUNCTION OF OFFSET TIME IS CALCULATED, IN TURN, THE OPTIMAL OFFSET TIME THAT WOULD MINIMIZE DELAY IS SHOWN TO BE A LINEAR FUNCTION OF THE DISTANCE FROM THE ISSUING TRAFFIC SIGNAL. THIS STUDY QUANTITATIVELY DEMONSTRATES, CONSIDERING THE ASSUMPTIONS MADE, THAT THE POTENTIAL OF PROPERLY COORDINATED SYSTEMS OF PROGRESSION COULD REDUCE DELAYS AT SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS. MORE SPECIFICALLY, IT SUGGESTS THAT A PROGRESSION SPEED APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE MEAN SPEED OF THE TRAFFIC STREAM WILL, IN MOST CASES, MINIMIZE TOTAL DELAY. /BPR/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1767714
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 1, pp 81-94
• Authors:
  • Hillier, J A
  • Rothery, R
• Publication Date: 1967-5

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Transportation Science
  • Publisher: Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
  • ISSN: 0041-1655
  • Serial URL: http://transci.journal.informs.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Intersections; Mean (Statistics); Progressive traffic signal control; Traffic delays; Traffic signal control systems; Traffic signals; Traffic speed
• Uncontrolled Terms: Synchronization
• Old TRIS Terms: Mean (Statistical)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225188
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bureau of Public Roads /US
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 12 1994 12:00AM