The Contribution of Traffic Signals Adjustment and Coordination in Mitigating CO₂ Emissions at Urban Arterials
Transportation is on course of becoming the number one contributor of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions worldwide, which is in turn the main accountant for the change of climate that will reportedly persist for the decades to come. Road transportation in particular, appears to be the leading sector among those whose emissions have increased since the late 1980s, acting as a barrier of a further reduction of emissions. Against this background, the present work aims at quantifying the potential of coordinating and adjusting traffic signals towards minimizing traffic- induced CO₂ emissions as a way for mitigating climate change. The paper addresses research and practice oriented questions in regard to the extent that traffic signals’ timing adjustment and coordination can contribute to CO₂ emissions reduction. The assessment is conducted at a test area consisting of an urban arterial road with three intersections at predefined distance spacing, reflecting traffic conditions of an urban arterial in Thessaloniki, Greece. The assessment is following an integrated modelling approach of combining a traffic microscopic simulator with an instantaneous speed-based emission model. Results reveal significant reduction of emissions when traffic lights’ cycle length increases as well as when green light coordination is applied.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADC20 Standing Committee on Transportation and Air Quality.
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Corporate Authors:
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Authors:
- Mamarikas, Sokratis
- Stamos, Iraklis
- Grau, Josep Maria Salanova
- Mitsakis, Evangelos
- Aifadopoulou, Georgia
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC, United States
- Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
- Date: 2017
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 14p
- Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Arterial highways; Carbon dioxide; Greenhouse gases; Pollutants; Traffic signal timing; Traffic signals; Traffic simulation; Urban highways
- Geographic Terms: Thessaloniki (Greece)
- Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01624228
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 17-04402
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Jan 26 2017 5:04PM