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Calculations

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Calculations
Thefollowingcalculationsandtermsareimportantindeterminingsignaltimingplans:
CriticalVolume

HeadwayandSaturationFlowRate(s)

LostTime(tL)

v/cRatio

PeakHourFactor(PHF)

CycleLength(C)

GreenTime

Capacity

CriticalVolume(Vc)
Duringanygivensignalphase,prescribedsetsoftrafficmovementsaregiventherightofway.The
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phasediagramshownontheSignalOperationspageisausefulillustrationassociatingsetsoftraffic
movementstotheirrespectivephases.Foreachphase,oneofthemovementswillhavethemaximum
trafficvolumeperlaneandthisvolumeisknownasthecriticallanevolume.Thesumofallcriticallane
volumesservedinacycleisknownasthecriticalvolume(Vc).
Whencalculatingcyclelengthsandgreentimes,itismucheasierifyouareworkingwithasingletypeof
vehicle.Thisisbecausedifferenttypesofvehiclesbehavedifferentlyandvehiclesexecutingdifferent
turningmovementsbehavedifferently.Acarturningleftisgenerallynotgoingtoaccelerateasquickly
asacargoingstraight.Therefore,beforethecriticalvolumeiscalculated,itisimportanttomakesure
thatallofthevolumesareinthroughcarequivalentunits(tcus).TCUSaregeneratedbymultiplyingthe
originalvolumesbyfactorstoaccountfortheaddedcongestionthatturners,bothrightandleft,addto
thetrafficflow.Turnersaddcongestiongenerallybecausetheymustslowdowntogoaroundthecorners,
andinthecaseofleftturners,therearesituationsinwhichtheyblockthroughlaneswhilewaitingto
turn.Tableswithtcusfactorscanbefoundhere.Wemustalsoadjustforheavytrucktraffic.Truckstake
morephysicalspaceontheroadwaythancars,andtheygenerallymovemoreslowly,especiallyin
cities.Forthesereasons,wemustdividethevolumesbyaheavyvehiclefactor(fHV).Thisfactoris
givenby:

Where%HVisthepercentageofheavyvehicles.
Example
Assumingthevolumeshavealreadybeenfactoredfortcusandheavyvehicles,usethe
volumesforeachmovementshowninthefiguretofindthecriticalvolume.
Solution
Tofindthecriticalvolume,wemustfirstfindthecriticallanevolumes.Thisisthehighest
movementvolumeinthephase,dividedbythenumberoflanes.Thecriticalvolumeisthe
sumofthecriticallanevolumes.

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Thecriticalvolumeis:Vc=160+280+365=805v.p.h.
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Headway(h)andSaturationFlowRate(s)
Saturationflowrateisthenumberofvehiclesservedbyalaneforonehourofgreentime.Inorderto
determinesaturationflowrate,wemustknowtheheadwayandsaturationheadway.Headwayisthetime
intervalbetweenthepassageofsuccessivevehiclesmovinginthesamelanemeasuredfromheadtohead
astheypassapointontheroad.
Saturationheadwayistheheadwayofthevehiclesina"stablemovingplatoon"passingthroughagreen
light.Astablemovingplatoonisagroupofvehiclesthataretraveling,butnotreallymovinginrelation
toeachother(i.e.allgoingthesamespeed).Theheadwayofthefirstfourvehiclesleavingan
intersectionafteraredlightwillhaveahighervaluesothesaturationheadwaywillnotberealizeduntil
the4thor5thqueuedvehicleleavestheintersection.
Ifeveryvehiclerequiresatimeequaltothesaturationheadway(h),inseconds,tobeservicedata
signalizedintersection,thenthemaximumnumberofvehiclesthatcanbeservicedinanhourofgreenis
givenbytheequations=3600/h,wheresissaturationflowrate,inveh/hr.
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LostTime
Unfortunately,intersectionsarenotconstantlyinuse.Theremayalwaysbecarswaitingforthelight,but
therearetimeswhenthereisnooneactuallyintheintersection.Losttimeisameasureofthisnouse
time,andittakesintoaccountlosttimeatthebeginningandendsofaphase.Atthebeginningofthe
greentime,actualheadwaywillberelativelylongerthansaturationheadwayforthefirstfourvehicles,
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whichincludesdriverreactiontimeandthetimenecessaryforacceleration.Inthegraphbelow,the
horizontallineat"h"isthesaturationheadway.

StartupLostTimeGraph
Thesumofthetimedifferencebetweenthesaturationheadwayandthefirstfourheadwaysisknownas
startuplosttime.Inadditiontostartuplosttimethereislosttimewhentherightofwaychanges,
knownasclearancelosttime.Itisthetimebetweenthelastvehicleenteringtheintersectionandthe
initiationofgreenonthenextphase.
Sothetotallosttime(tL)inonephaseisthesumofstartuplosttimeandtheclearancelosttimeand
thetotallosttimeforacycleisthelosttimeperphasemultipliedbythenumberofphasespercycle.
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DesiredV/CRatio(v/c)des
Thev/cratioistheratioofcurrentflowratetocapacityofthefacility.Itisanindicatorofthequalityof
theoperationsatanintersection.
v/c=(rateofflow)/capacity
v/cratioispartofthedesigncriteriaandisavaluewearehopingtoattainwhentimingatrafficsignal.
Totestthisvalueatanexistingintersection,wecangettheflowratefromtrafficcountsandcapacitycan
becalculatedbasedonthesignaltimingplan.
Aratiothatisgreaterthan1.0predictsthatthefacilitywillfail,becauseitisunabletodischargethe
demandarrivingatthesection.Usuallyavaluebetween0.85to0.95isconsidereddesirablefordesign
purposes.
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PeakHourFactor(PHF)
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Therelationbetweenhourlyvolumeandthemaximumprobablerateofflowwithinanhourisdefinedby
thepeakhourfactor(PHF).
PHF=HourlyVolume/Maximumrateofflow
TheHighwayCapacityManual(HCM)recommendsaminimumtimeintervalof15minutesformost
operationalanddesignanalysis.SothePHFcanbegivenas:
V=Peakhourlyvolume(veh/hr)
V15=maximum15minutevolume
withinthepeakhour(veh).
For15minuteperiods,themaximumvalueofthePHFis1.00andtheminimumvalueis0.25.The
normalrangeofvaluesisbetween0.70and0.98.
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CycleLengthCalculation
Cyclelengthistheamountoftimefromwhenamovementfirstisgiventherightofwayuntilthat
movementreceivesitagain.Itiscalculatedusingtheequationbelow.Generally,agencieshavesome
minimumcyclelengthbelowwhichtheywillnotprogramtheirsignals.Thisisbecausetherewouldbe
toomanyphasesperhour,andthereforetoomuchlosttime.Forourexamples,wewilluse45seconds
asaminimum.
N=Numberofphasesinonecycle
tL=Totallosttimeperphase(sec)
Vc=Criticalvolume(vph)
PHF=PeakHourFactor
v/
cdesired=Desiredvolume/capacityratio

h=SaturationHeadway(sec)
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GreenTimeCalculations
Oncethecyclelengthhasbeenestablished,itisnecessarytodeterminethegreensplit,orhowlongeach
phasewillhavetherightofway(greenindication).Firstwemustcalculatetheeffectivegreentime,
whichisthetimethatamovementisgoing,regardlessoftheindicationshown(i.e.peoplegoingon
yellowornotgoingatthestartofaphase).Effectivegreentimeiscalculatedusingtheequationbelow.

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g =Effectivegreentime(sec)

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gi=Effectivegreentime(sec)
Vci=Criticalvolumeforphase(veh/lnhr)
Vc=Totalcriticalvolume(veh/lnhr)
C=CycleLength(sec)
L=Totallosttime(tLN)(sec)
Actualgreentimeisbasedontheeffectivegreentime,andtakesintoaccountthelosttimeandtheallred
andyellowtimetocomeupwithavaluetouseinprogrammingthesignal.Actualgreentimeis
calculatedusingtheequationbelow.
Gi=Actualgreentime(sec)
tL=Losttimeperphase(sec)
Yi=Yellowandallredtime(sec)
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Capacity
Intersectioncapacityiscomplexandinvolvesmanydifferentfactors.Itisoutlinedindetailinthe
HighwayCapacityManual,butwewillgiveitacursorytreatment.
Wehaveanequationtoestimatethelanecapacityatasignalizedintersection.Tofindtheapproach
capacity,addupthelanecapacities.Theequationisasfollows:
ci=Capacityofoneapproachlane(passengercars
perlaneperhour)
h=Saturationheadway(2secforourcases)
gi=Effectivegreentimefortheapproach(sec)

Variablesdefinedpreviously
C=Cyclelength(sec)
Theequationgivesusthecapacityinpassengercarswithanormalheadway.However,largetrucksand
turningvehicleswillnotnecessarilyhavenormalheadways.Forthatreason,whenwearecomparing
volumestocapacities(suchaswiththev/cratio)wemustusevolumesthathavebeenfactoredforheavy
vehiclesandturningmovements.
MovingOn...
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NowthatyouhavegoneoverthePhasingandCalculationsmaterials,youmayeithermoveontothe
ExplorationsectionandcompleteCaseStudies13,oryoumaycontinueonwiththebackground
materialstoOverlapPhasing.
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