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Methods For Optimization of Signal Cycle Length
Methods For Optimization of Signal Cycle Length
ISSN: 2455-5703
Abstract
Traffic on the existing road is increasing due to rapid urbanization and industrialization due to extreme growth of vehicles all over
the world. Due to this, some problems like congestion, delay and pollution remain a big challenge. These problems can be solved
by providing an effective traffic signal control at the intersection for achieve continuous movement of vehicles at the intersection.
The primary objective of this study is to review methods for develop an optimized traffic signal cycle length model for signalized
intersections. Most traffic signal timing plans are designed to decrease delay time of vehicle. Signal timing is most important and
it is used to decide green time of the traffic signal.
Keywords- Effective Traffic Control, Signal Cycle Length, Delay Time, Green Time, Optimization
I. INTRODUCTION
Traffic engineering is a branch of engineering that deals with efficient and safe movement of people, goods and vehicles. It also
deals with planning and geometric design of highways and measures to reduce accidents on highway.
Traffic signal is a commonly used traffic operation management device at roadway intersections in urban area. The
capacity of urban road network generally depends on the capacity of the traffic signals. Traffic signal control is one of the most
useful methods to reduce the effect of traffic congestion at intersections.
Traffic optimization is an emerging area in the recent few years, with the rapid development of data analysis studies and
techniques. Intersection is the hub of road traffic and plays a vital role in alleviating the pressure on road traffic. With the rapid
development of India’s economy, the urban population has expanded constantly, and the amount of traffic has significantly
increased. As a result, serious road congestion, traffic chaos and other issues are occurring. Therefore, it is quite urgent to improve
the road service capacity and achieve the scientific management of road conditions.
The intersection is a vital part of urban road networks which plays a key role in the speed of vehicle and for operating the
entire road network effectively. However, with rapidly increase in motorization during past two decades, bottle-neck effects have
been exposed more and more at intersection of urban areas.
The benefits for developing the signalized intersections are many. First one is the control afforded by the traffic lights
separates the irrelevant traffic flows in time and improves safety of vehicle and operation efficiency; second one is the vehicles on
the approach are suspended periodically, causing delays. Therefore, the traffic signal cycle plays a vital role in traffic control at
intersection. A suitable cycle length can decrease or prevent traffic congestion and reduce noise pollution, emissions, energy
consumption and travel delay time effectively.
Fig. 1: Comparison between Webster’s model, search algorithm, regression formulas, and simulation results
From Figure 1 it is clear that the regression formulas and the search algorithm give approximately the same performance as the
simulation results.
Wu, et al. (2015), collected traffic data from 50 signalized intersections in Xi’an city. The primary objective of this study
was to develop an optimization traffic signal cycle length model for signalized intersections. In this study they used many models
like Webster’s delay model, optimization cycle length model, TRRL model and ARRB model. Using comprehensive delay data,
the optimization cycle length model is re-recalibrated to the Chinese traffic conditions based on the Webster delay model. In the
optimization cycle length model, they took vehicle delay time, pedestrian crossing time, and drivers’ anxiety into consideration.
To evaluate the effects of the optimization cycle length model, three intersections were selected for a simulation. They compared
optimization cycle length model and Webster delay model on the basis of delay time and queue length.
Table 2: Comparison of Signal Cycle Length
TRRL model NEW model
Cycle length (sec) Co = (1.5L + 5) / (1- Y) C = (1.45L + 3) / (1-Y)
Intersection 1 30 40
Intersection 2 140 120
Intersection 3 230 180
In Table 2, intersection 1 has low traffic flow; intersection 2 has medium traffic flow; intersection 3 has very busy traffic
flow. From these observations, it was concluded that, for the medium and high traffic flow the NEW model gives small cycle
length as compared to TRRL model considering pedestrian and anxiety of driver.
Surisetty and Sekhar (2017) used Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) intersection saturation for identifying periods of
time when cycle length could be substantially short. These data are used to identify normal flow of the roadway and determine the
influence of heavy vehicles or pedestrians on vehicular traffic volume. They compared HCM 2000 and Webster’s delay equation.
As a result, they concluded that Webster’s minimum delay cycle length equation overestimates the optimal cycle length compared
to the results based on the HCM 2000 method.
Kesur (2017) found that mixed cycle length operation can substantially improve performance in traffic networks where
there is a large difference in the volume of traffic processed by individual signals, Whereas Webster’s cycle length formula is
generally used as a heuristic to determine which signals to operate at lower and higher cycle lengths. This study demonstrates that
the use of mixed cycle lengths as given by the heuristic is inferior to operation under a common cycle length. Mixed cycle length
operation is found to be of a more limited application.
In this method, he discusses the study of Kreer.
Table 3: Cycle Times Examined in Test Networks
Kreer’s network Real world network
Cycling scenario
Cmin Cmax Cmin Cmax
Common cycle 30 120 36 144
III. CONCLUSION
– Each intersection signal design method has its own characteristics. Optimization of signal cycle length is based on situation at
location.
– At low traffic volume condition, Webster’s optimal equation is good.
– For an isolated intersection, HCM 2000 method is better than Webster’s delay formula.
– Modified Webster’s delay cycle length equation significantly improves the accuracy for isolated intersections at high traffic
volume condition.
– Minimum delay optimal cycle length based on time dependent formula gives better estimation for the optimal cycle length at
high intersection flow ratio compared to Webster’s formula.
– Multi-objective optimization is used to achieve an optimized state of balance in problems involving more than one objective.
– Mixed cycle length operation has been recommended for networks where individual intersection process considerably
different traffic volumes.
– EPS method optimizes cycle length and green time together whereas most of software or methods calculate them separately.
REFERENCES
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