A METHOD OF MEASURING RELATIVE EFFICIENCY OF TRAFFIC FLOW THROUGH STREET INTERSECTIONS

TRAFFIC COUNTING AT URBAN INTERSECTIONS IS A MEANS OF MEASURING TRAFFIC FLOW AND DELAY, THE LATTER BEING DEFINED AS THE RATIO OF CARS DELAYED DURING A GIVEN PERIOD OF TIME TO THE TOTAL NUMBER PASSING THROUGH THE INTERSECTION. TEN INTERSECTIONS IN BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON, D.C., WERE INVESTIGATED TO TEST THE EFFECT OF FOUR SETS OF VARIABLES (ONE-WAY/TWO-WAY STREETS, SIGNALIZED/UNSIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS, POLICE CONTROL/NO CONTROL, AND PEDESTRIAN VOLUME) ON DELAY AT INTERSECTIONS. CHARTS ARE PRESENTED DESCRIBING THE RESULTS. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT SYNCHRONIZED SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS ARE AN ACTIVE MEANS OF PROMOTING TRAFFIC FLOW, NO CONTROL IS PREFERABLE TO OFFICER CONTROL FROM A VEHICULAR STANDPOINT, AND WHERE PEDESTRIANS ARE USING AN INTERSECTION IN LARGE NUMBERS, THE BEST TO HOPE FOR IS 60--70% DELAY.

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/7/7-009.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 7, Part I, PP 81-85, 2 FIG; part of Report of Committee on Causes and Prevention of Highway Accidents. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Johnson, A N
• Publication Date: 1928

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 1-2, 1927. Part I: Reports of Research Committees and of Special Investigations and Papers
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 7
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Intersections; Pedestrian vehicle interface; Streets; Traffic conflicts; Traffic counting; Traffic delays; Traffic flow; Unsignalized intersections
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00227270
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 25 1971 12:00AM