Real-time estimation of turning movement counts at signalized intersections using signal phase information

A variety of sensor technologies, such as loop detectors, traffic cameras, and radar have been developed for real-time traffic monitoring at intersections most of which are limited to providing link traffic information with few being capable of detecting turning movements. Accurate real-time information on turning movement counts at signalized intersections is a critical requirement for applications such as adaptive traffic signal control. Several attempts have been made in the past to develop algorithms for inferring turning movements at intersections from entry and exit counts; however, the estimation quality of these algorithms varies considerably. This paper introduces a method to improve accuracy and robustness of turning movement estimation at signalized intersections. The new algorithm makes use of signal phase status to minimize the underlying estimation ambiguity. A case study was conducted based on turning movement data obtained from a four-leg signalized intersection to evaluate the performance of the proposed method and compare it with two other existing well-known estimation methods. The results show that the algorithm is accurate, robust and fairly straightforward for real world implementation.     

Unconventional USC intersection corridors: evaluation of potential implementation in Doha,Qatar

Unconventional intersection designs have been recently proposed as a new approach to deal with heavy left turns at signalized intersections. One of these unconventional schemes, the Upstream Signalized Crossover (USC) intersection, was shown to significantly reduce average vehicle delays; particularly when the volumes entering the intersection are relatively high. The Ministry of Public Works of Qatar is considering the implementation of the USC intersection on three signalized intersections along a major urban corridor in Doha. This paper investigates the potential improvements associated with the USC implementation. VISSIM was used to analyze the proposed USC intersections and the existing conventional intersections. Analyses were carried out for AM , Midday, and PM peak hours. The results showed that most of the travel time measurement sections experienced lower delays in the USC configuration for the three peak periods. As well, the total system delay, in hours, for the USC configuration was less than that of the conventional configuration by 19.4, 14.8, and 13.6% for the AM , Midday, and PM peaks, respectively. The average control delay for each single USC intersection was lower than its conventional counterpart by between 7.6 and 22.9%. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling delay at signalized intersections with channelized right‐turn lanes considering the impact of blockage

This paper presents a probabilistic delay model for signalized intersections with right‐turn channelization lanes considering the possibility of blockage. Right‐turn channelization is used to improve the capacity and to reduce delay at busy intersections with a lot of right‐turns. However, under heavy traffic conditions the through vehicles will likely block the channelization entrance that accrues delay to right‐turn vehicles. If the right‐turn channelization gets blocked frequently, its advantage in reducing the intersection delay is neglected and as a result the channelization lane becomes inefficient and redundant. The Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) neglects the blockage effect, which may be a reason for low efficiency during peak hours. More importantly, using HCM or other standard traffic control methods without considering the blockage effects would lead to underestimation of the delay. To overcome this issue, the authors proposed delay models by taking into account both deterministic and random aspects of vehicles arrival patterns at signalized intersections. The proposed delay model was validated through VISSIM, a microscopic simulation model. The results showed that the proposed model is very precise and accurately estimates the delay. In addition, it was found that the length of short‐lane section and proportion of right‐turn and through traffic significantly influence the approach delay. For operational purposes, the authors provided a step‐by‐step delay calculation process and presented approach delay estimates for different sets of traffic volumes, signal settings, and short‐lane section lengths. The delay estimates would be useful in evaluating adequacy of the current lengths, identifying the options of extending the short‐lane section length, or changing signal timing to reduce the likelihood of blockage. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Operational performance comparison of four unconventional intersection designs using micro‐simulation

Several unconventional intersection designs have been proposed as an innovative approach to mitigate congestion at heavily congested at‐grade signalized intersections. Many of these unconventional designs were shown to outperform conventional intersections in terms of the average control delay and the overall intersection capacity. Little research has been conducted to compare the performance of these unconventional intersections to each other under different volume conditions. This study evaluated and compared the operational performance of four unconventional intersection schemes: the crossover displaced left‐turn (XDL), the upstream signalized crossover (USC), the double crossover intersection (DXI) (i.e., half USC), and the median U‐turn (MUT). The micro‐simulation software vissim (PTV Planung Transport Verkehr AG, Karlsruhe, Germany) was used to model and analyze the four unconventional intersections as well as a counterpart conventional one. The results showed that the XDL intersection constantly exhibited the lowest delays at nearly all tested balanced and unbalanced volume levels. The operational performance of both the USC and the DXI was similar in most volume conditions. The MUT design, on the other hand, was unable to accommodate high approach volumes and heavy left‐turn traffic. The capacity of the XDL intersection was found to be 99% higher than that of the conventional intersection, whereas the capacity of the USC and the DXI intersections was about 50% higher than that of the conventional intersection. The results of this study can provide guidance on choosing among alternative unconventional designs according to the prevailing traffic conditions at an intersection. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Signalized intersections with variable flow rates: I analysis and simulation

One of the most common measures of signalized intersection operation is the amount of delay a vehicle incurs while passing through the intersection. Traditional models for estimating vehicle delay at intersections generally assume fixed signal timing and uniform arrival rates for vehicles approaching the intersection. One would expect that highly variable arrival rates would result in much longer delays than uniform arrival rates of the same average magnitude. Furthermore, one might expect that signal timing that is adjusted according to traffic volume would result in lower delay signal when variations in flow warrant such adjustable timing. This paper attempts to test several hypotheses concerning the effects of variable traffic arrival rates and adjusted signal timing through the use of simulation. The simulation results corroborate the hypothesis concerning the effect of varying arrival rates. As the variance of the arrival rate over time increases, the average delay per vehicle also increases. Signal timing adjustments based on traffic appear to decrease delay when flow rates vary greatly. As flow variations stabilize, the benefits of signal adjustments tend to diminish.     

Traffic conflict models to evaluate the safety of signalized intersections at the cycle level

The safety of signalized intersections has often been evaluated at an aggregate level relating collisions to annual traffic volume and the geometric characteristics of the intersection. However, for many safety issues, it is essential to understand how changes in traffic parameters and signal control affect safety at the signal cycle level. This paper develops conflict-based safety performance functions (SPFs) for signalized intersections at the signal cycle level. Traffic video-data was recorded for six signalized intersections located in two cities in Canada. A video analysis procedure is proposed to collect rear-end conflicts and various traffic variables at each signal cycle from the recorded videos. The traffic variables include: traffic volume, maximum queue length, shock wave characteristics (e.g. shock wave speed and shock wave area), and the platoon ratio. The SPFs are developed using the generalized linear models (GLM) approach. The results show that all models have good fit and almost all the explanatory variables are statistically significant leading to better prediction of conflict occurrence beyond what can be expected from the traffic volume only. Furthermore, space-time conflict heat maps are developed to investigate the distribution of the traffic conflicts. The heat maps illustrate graphically the association between rear-end conflicts and various traffic parameters. The developed models can give insight about how changes in the signal cycle design affect the safety of signalized intersections. The overall goal is to use the developed models for the real-time optimization of signalized intersection safety by changing the signal design.     

Modeling traffic operation at signalized intersections without explicit left‐turn yielding rules with an enhanced cell transmission model

This paper presents an enhanced cell transmission model (CTM) to capture traffic operation at signalized intersections without explicit permissive left‐turn yielding rules (i.e. aggressive permissive left‐turn maneuvers may not necessarily yield to opposing through traffic), which can be widely observed in many developing countries. Different from previous studies that focus on traffic dynamics on approaching links, this study contributes to modeling traffic operations within the intersection. A novel cell transmission framework with various types of virtual cells is proposed to model the dynamics of traffic movements from approach to exit. The unique phenomenon of competitive occupying of the conflict point between the left turn and opposing through movements is modeled. The cell state indicating its blockage is proposed to capture the dynamic queue formulation and dissipation and to evaluate the operational traffic performance at the intersection. Field validation results show that the proposed model can capture the operation of traffic at signalized intersections without explicit permissive left‐turn yielding rules with significantly higher level of accuracy than traditional traffic flow models. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Review on Theoretical Delay Estimation Model for Signalized Intersections

Traffic delay is an effective index for estimating the performance of a signalized intersection. In this study, we provide a comprehensive review of the theoretical delay estimation model over the last ca. 90 years. For fixed-time signalized intersections, we classified the estimation development process into three stages. Stage 1 covered 1920s–1970s, when approaches based on steady-state theory were derived. These methods obtain accurate predictions with low degrees of saturation, but overestimate the delay with higher saturation and cannot provide reasonable results for oversaturated conditions. To accommodate high saturation, time-dependent models were proposed and improved in Stage 2, 1970s–2000s, using coordination transformation techniques. Progression factors to account for the filtering impact from upstream intersections were also introduced during this period. Due to inaccurate approximation of certain specific traffic conditions, some modified approaches and supplementary terms were derived from 2000 onwards (Stage 3), which facilitate the evolution of the delay estimation method and improved approximation results. Some new techniques, including artificial intelligence algorithms, were also introduced into delay estimation in this era. We also describe theoretical delay measurement methods for actuated control intersections with a similar time line. From our summary of the evolution of theoretical delay models, we highlight some deficiencies and future research directions.     

Platoons of connected vehicles can double throughput in urban roads

Intersections are the bottlenecks of the urban road system because an intersection’s capacity is only a fraction of the maximum flows that the roads connecting to the intersection can carry. This capacity can be increased if vehicles cross the intersections in platoons rather than one by one as they do today. Platoon formation is enabled by connected vehicle technology. This paper assesses the potential mobility benefits of platooning. It argues that saturation flow rates, and hence intersection capacity, can be doubled or tripled by platooning. The argument is supported by the analysis of three queuing models and by the simulation of a road network with 16 intersections and 73 links. The queuing analysis and the simulations reveal that a signalized network with fixed time control will support an increase in demand by a factor of (say) two or three if all saturation flows are increased by the same factor, with no change in the control. Furthermore, despite the increased demand vehicles will experience the same delay and travel time. The same scaling improvement is achieved when the fixed time control is replaced by the max pressure adaptive control. Part of the capacity increase can alternatively be used to reduce queue lengths and the associated queuing delay by decreasing the cycle time. Impediments to the control of connected vehicles to achieve platooning at intersections appear to be small.     

Development of a signal-head-free intersection control logic in a fully connected and autonomous vehicle environment

Establishment of effective cooperation between vehicles and transportation infrastructure improves travel reliability in urban transportation networks. Lack of collaboration, however, exacerbates congestion due mainly to frequent stops at signalized intersections. It is beneficial to develop a control logic that collects basic safety message from approaching connected and autonomous vehicles and guarantees efficient intersection operations with safe and incident free vehicle maneuvers. In this paper, a signal-head-free intersection control logic is formulated into a dynamic programming model that aims to maximize the intersection throughput. A stochastic look-ahead technique is proposed based on Monte Carlo tree search algorithm to determine the near-optimal actions (i.e., acceleration rates) over time to prevent movement conflicts. Our numerical results confirm that the proposed technique can solve the problem efficiently and addresses the consequences of existing traffic signals. The proposed approach, while completely avoids incidents at intersections, significantly reduces travel time (ranging between 59.4% and 83.7% when compared to fixed-time and fully-actuated control strategies) at intersections under various demand patterns.     

Pedestrian delay estimation at signalized intersections in developing cities

This paper proposes a pedestrian delay model suitable for signalized intersections in developing cities, on the basis of a field study conducted in Xi’an, China. The field study consisted of two parts: Part I involved only one crosswalk, and the signal cycle was divided into 13 subphases; Part II involved 13 crosswalks, but the signal cycles were only divided into green phases and non-green phases. It was found that pedestrian arrival rates were not uniform throughout cycles; pedestrians arriving during green phases might also receive delays; pedestrian signal non-compliance was so severe that delays were greatly reduced, but non-complying pedestrians might still receive delays; and for pedestrians walking different directions, though the relationships between average delay and arrival subphase were different, the overall average delays were almost the same. On the basis of the field study results, some assumptions are made about the relationship between average pedestrian delay and arrival subphase, and a new model is developed to estimate pedestrian delays at signalized intersections. The model is validated using the field data, and the validation results indicate that in Xi’an the new model provides much more accurate estimation than the existing models.     

Investigating the irregularity of bus routes: highlighting how underlying assumptions of bus models impact the regularity results

A bus route is inherently unstable: when the system is uncontrolled, buses fail to maintain their time‐headways and tend to bunch. Several mathematical bus motion models were proposed to reproduce the bus behavior and assess management strategies. However, no work has established how the choice of a model impacts the irregularity of modeled bus systems, that is, the non‐respect of scheduled headways. Because of this gap, a large body of existing works assumes that the ability of these models to reproduce instability comes only from stochasticity, although the link between stochastic inputs and the level of irregularity remains unknown. Moreover, some recognized phenomena such as a change of travel conditions during a day or delays at signalized intersections are ignored. To address these shortcomings, this paper provides an overview of existing dynamic bus‐focused models and proposes a simple way to classify them. Commonly used deterministic and stochastic models are compared, which allows quantifying the relative influence of stochasticity of each model component on outputs. Moreover, we show that a change in the system equilibrium in a full deterministic system can lead to irregularity. Finally, this paper proposes a refinement of travel time models to account for non‐dynamic signals. In presence of traffic signals, we show that a bus system can be self‐regulated. Especially, these insights could help to calibrate bus model inputs to better reproduce real data. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Noise level in the vicinity of signalized roundabouts

The analysis, assessment and estimation of noise levels in the vicinity of intersections is a more complex problem than a similar analysis for roads and streets. This is due to the varied geometry of the intersections, differences in the loads of individual movements, participation of heavy vehicles and mass transport vehicles, as well as the various types of traffic management and traffic control. This article analyses the influence of intersection type and traffic characteristics on the noise levels in the vicinity of classic channelized intersections with signalization, roundabouts and signalized roundabouts. Based on the conducted measurements, it has been established that, with comparable traffic parameters and the same distance from the geometric centre of the intersection, the L_Aeq value for signalized roundabouts is 2.5–10.8 dB higher in comparison to classic channelized intersections with signalization and 3.3–6.7 dB higher in relations to the analysed roundabout. Additionally the differences between L_Aeq levels at individual entries at the same signalized roundabouts may reach the value of approximately 4.5 dB. Such situation is influenced by differences in the intersection geometry, diameter of the intersection’s central island, traffic flow type, traffic management at the entries and traffic volume, especially the amount and traffic movements of multiple axle heavy vehicles. These factors have been analysed in detail in relation to signalized roundabouts in this paper.     

Optimization of pedestrian phase patterns at signalized intersections: a multi‐objective approach

This paper presents a multi‐objective optimization model and its solution algorithm for optimization of pedestrian phase patterns, including the exclusive pedestrian phase (EPP) and the conventional two‐way crossing (TWC) at an intersection. The proposed model will determine the optimal pedestrian phase pattern and the corresponding signal timings at an intersection to best accommodate both vehicular traffic and pedestrian movements. The proposed model is unique with respect to the following three critical features: (1) proposing an unbiased performance index for comparison of EPP and TWC by explicitly modeling the pedestrian delay under the control of TWC and EPP; (2) developing a multi‐objective model to maximize the utilization of the available green time by vehicular traffic and pedestrian under both EPP or TWC; and (3) designing a genetic algorithm based heuristic algorithm to solve the model. Case study and sensitivity analysis results have shown the promising property of the proposed model to assist traffic practitioners, researchers, and authorities in properly selecting pedestrian phase patterns at signalized intersections. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stochastic adaptive control model for traffic signal systems

An adaptive control model of a network of signalized intersections is proposed based on a discrete-time, stationary, Markov decision process. The model incorporates probabilistic forecasts of individual vehicle actuations at downstream inductance loop detectors that are derived from a macroscopic link transfer function. The model is tested both on a typical isolated traffic intersection and a simple network comprised of five four-legged signalized intersections, and compared to full-actuated control. Analyses of simulation results using this approach show significant improvement over traditional full-actuated control, especially for the case of high volume, but not saturated, traffic demand.     

Operational analysis of the contraflow left-turn lane design at signalized intersections in China

The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the impacts of an unconventional left-turn treatment called contraflow left-turn lane (CLL) on the operational performance of left-turn movement at signalized intersections. An analytical model was developed for estimating the capacity of left-turn movement at signalized intersections with the CLL design. The capacity model was calibrated and validated using field data collected at six approaches at five signalized intersections in the city of Handan, China. The results of field data analyses showed that the use of CLL design improved the capacity of left-turn movements. However, the capacity gains with the CLL design were quite stochastic considering the randomness in the arrivals of left-turning vehicles. Analytical delay models were proposed for estimating the delay to left-turning vehicles at intersections with the CLL design. A procedure was also proposed for optimizing the location of the upstream median opening and the green interval of the pre-signal. Simulation analyses were conducted to compare the delay experienced by the left-turning and through vehicles at signalized intersections with the conventional left-turn lane, the CLL and another unconventional left-turn treatment entitled “tandem design”. The results showed that both CLL and tandem designs outperformed conventional left-turn lane design; and the CLL design generated less delay to both the left-turning and through vehicles as compared with the tandem design.     

An application of shock wave theory to traffic signal control

A real time control policy minimizing total intersection delays subject to queue length constraints at an isolated signalized intersection is developed in this paper. The policy is derived from a new traffic model which describes the simultaneous evolution of queue lengths of two conflicting traffic streams, controlled by a traffic light, in both time and space. The model is based on the examination of shock waves generated upstream of the stop lines by the intermittent service of traffic at the signal. The proposed policy was tested against the existing pre-timed control policy at a high volume intersection and it was found superior, especially when demands increase well above the saturation level.     

Pre-timed control for an under-saturated and over-saturated isolated intersection: a Bee Colony Optimization approach

In this paper we study the problem of determining the optimum cycle and phase lengths for isolated signalized intersections. Calculation of the optimal cycle and green phase lengths is based on the minimization of the average control delay experienced by all vehicles that arrive at the intersection within a given time period. We consider under-saturated as well as over-saturated conditions at isolated intersections. The defined traffic signal timing problem, that belongs to the class of combinatorial optimization problems, is solved using the Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) metaheuristic approach. The BCO is a biologically inspired method that explores collective intelligence applied by honey bees during the nectar collecting process. The numerical experiments performed on some examples show that the proposed approach is competitive with other methods. The obtained results show that the proposed approach is capable of generating high-quality solutions within negligible processing times.     

Disaggregate safety evaluation for signalized intersections and evaluation tool

This study was to evaluate traffic safety of four‐legged signalized intersections and to develop a spreadsheet tool for identifying high‐risk intersections taking into consideration vehicle movements, left‐turn signal phase types, and times of day. The study used data from Virginia and employed count data models and the empirical Bayes (EB) method for safety evaluation of such intersections. It was found that crash pattern defined by vehicle movements involved in a crash and time of day are important factors for intersection crash analysis. Especially for a safety performance function (SPF), a model specification (Poisson or NB), inclusion of left‐turn signal types, type of traffic flow variables, variable functional forms, and/or magnitudes of coefficients turned out to be different across times of day and crash patterns. The spreadsheet application tool was developed incorporating the developed SPFs and the EB method. As long as Synchro files for signal plans and crash database are maintained, no additional field data collection efforts are required. Adjusting the developed SPFs and the spreadsheet for recent traffic and safety conditions can be done by applying the calibration methods employed in the SafetyAnalyst software and the Highway Safety Manual. Implementing the developed tool equipped with streamlining data entry would greatly improve accuracy and efficiency of safety evaluation of four‐legged signalized intersections in localities and highway agencies that cannot operate the SafetyAnalyst. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Severity of pedestrian injuries due to traffic crashes at signalized intersections in Hong Kong: a Bayesian spatial logit model

The present study intended to (1) investigate the injury risk of pedestrian casualties involved in traffic crashes at signalized intersections in Hong Kong; (2) determine the effect of pedestrian volumes on the severity levels of pedestrian injuries; and (3) explore the role of spatial correlation in econometric crash‐severity models. The data from 1889 pedestrian‐related crashes at 318 signalized intersections between 2008 and 2012 were elaborately collected from the Traffic Accident Database System maintained by the Hong Kong Transport Department. To account for the cross‐intersection heterogeneity, a Bayesian hierarchical logit model with uncorrelated and spatially correlated random effects was developed. An intrinsic conditional autoregressive prior was specified for the spatial correlation term. Results revealed that (1) signalized intersections with greater pedestrian volumes generally exhibited a lower injury risk; (2) ignoring the spatial correlation potentially results in reduced model goodness‐of‐fit, an underestimation of variability and standard error of parameter estimates, as well as inconsistent, biased, and erroneous inference; (3) special attention should be paid to the following factors, which led to a significantly higher probability of pedestrians being killed or sustaining severe injury: pedestrian age greater than 65 years, casualties with head injuries, crashes that occurred on footpaths that were not obstructed/overcrowded, heedless or inattentive crossing, crashes on the two‐way carriageway, and those that occurred near tram or light‐rail transit stops. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.