See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/327550381

Dynamics of Vehicle Discharge at Signalized Intersections with Nonlane-

based Mixed Traffic Operations

Article · September 2018

DOI: 10.11175/eastsats.5.310

CITATIONS READS

3 645

3 authors:

Kinjal Bhattacharyya Bhaskar Paul

Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
28 PUBLICATIONS 171 CITATIONS 5 PUBLICATIONS 35 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Bhargab Maitra
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
108 PUBLICATIONS 1,092 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Vehicle progression along signalized links View project

Impact of COVID-19 on Transportation and Way forward View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Kinjal Bhattacharyya on 18 July 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.
© 2018 ATS All rights reserved

Dynamics of Vehicle Discharge at Signalized Intersections with

Nonlane-based Mixed Traffic Operations

Kinjal BHATTACHARYYA a, Bhaskar PAUL b, Bhargab MAITRA c*

a
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur,
Kharagpur, 721302, India;
E-mail: kinjalb.ce@gmail.com
b
Same as the first author; E-mail: bhaskar_1232@yahoo.com
c
Same as the first author; E-mail: bhargab@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in

Abstract: Vehicle discharge is a major factor that influences the design of traffic signals.
Emerging countries with nonlane-based mixed traffic operations have distinctly different
vehicle discharge characteristics compared with countries with disciplined traffic operations.
In the case of nonlane-based traffic, vehicles occupy any available space near an intersection
and do not necessarily form a lane-based queue. As a result, prevailing trends of vehicle
discharge characteristics, such as discharge headway and queue discharge rate, are not
directly applicable. In this study, a new measure, the vehicle passing interval, was adopted to
investigate the dynamics of vehicle discharge in such traffic conditions. A case study was
conducted using several two-lane signalized approaches in Kolkata, India. The vehicle
passing interval was found to be effective in capturing heterogeneity with respect to vehicle
category, the lateral and longitudinal position of vehicles, and variation in discharge rate over
different intervals of green time.

Keywords: Nonlane-based Traffic, Vehicle Discharge Characteristics, Vehicle Passing

Interval, Urban India, Signalized Intersection, Discharge Rate.

1. INTRODUCTION

Signalized intersections form an integral part of the urban road network by facilitating safe
movement of traffic while maintaining operational efficiency. Traffic volume and saturation
flow rate are the key inputs for the design of traffic signals. While traffic volume is generally
available as a basic input for the design of traffic signals, saturation flow needs to be
estimated for a particular location because it depends on the characteristics of vehicle
discharge at that location. Studies have attempted to relate the vehicle discharge
characteristics at signalized intersection approaches to several measures, such as discharge
headway, the lateral and longitudinal position of vehicles, and start-up lost time (Chaudhry
and Ranjitkar, 2015, 2013; Srivastava et al., 2015; Lin and Thomas, 2005). A number of
vehicle discharge models have been developed based on these measures in the context of
lane-based driving with nearly homogeneous traffic (Akçelik and Besley, 2002; Bonneson,
1992). However, vehicle discharge was also observed to vary with locational characteristics,
such as intersection configuration and the nature of traffic, which are expected to have a
significant influence on the performance of traffic signals (Hamad and Abuhamda, 2015;
Sharma et al., 2011). In emerging countries such as India, the traffic behavior and
composition differ significantly from developed countries. There is a mix of fast- and

*
Corresponding author.

310
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

slow-moving vehicles that share the same road space, and there is an absence of lane
discipline. Therefore, a number of studies have been conducted with an added emphasis on
the mixed nature of traffic operations in emerging countries such as India and Vietnam, with a
focus on estimating peak queue discharge rate, saturation flow rate, and saturation headway
(Nguyen, 2016; Wong et al., 2016; Dey et al., 2013; Sharma et al., 2009). However, in the
case of nonlane-based traffic operations, vehicles generally try to occupy any available space
near intersection approaches and, therefore, do not form a disciplined queue. Hence, the
concepts of queue discharge rate or saturation headway are not directly applicable in the
context of nonlane-based traffic movement and the dynamics of vehicle discharge in such
traffic scenario have to be adequately addressed.
Here, a new method of estimating the discharge rate is introduced in which the vehicle
passing interval (VPI) is considered for the effective width of the carriageway that is utilized
by the discharging vehicles during the green phase. VPI should indicate the number of
vehicles that will be discharged at different intervals of green time and its use eliminates the
assumption of constant rates of discharge for nonlane-based traffic. Six signalized intersection
approaches in the Kolkata metro city were considered to investigate the dynamics of vehicle
discharge while quantifying the discharge in terms of VPI. Video data were extracted,
processed, and analyzed and highlighted a number of interesting findings related to the
characteristics of vehicle discharge in the context of a nonlane-based traffic environment and
their implications for a more rational design of traffic signals in urban India.
The paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature highlighting the major
gaps and assumptions related to vehicle discharge with a focus on nonlane-based mixed
traffic in emerging countries. Section 3 discusses the methodology adopted for analysis, while
the study site and the development of the database are explained in Section 4. Findings and
discussion based on the analysis and implications for the design of traffic signals are
discussed in Section 5. The major outcomes and observations from the present study are
summarized in Section 6.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Vehicle discharge from the stop line plays an important role in the design and operation of
traffic signals. Over the years, discharge headway has been studied as the building block
parameter for vehicle discharge profile at the stop line. In general, the change in discharge
headway with vehicle position in a queue and the occurrence of the peak rate of discharge
mutually affect the estimation of a number of signal design inputs such as start-up delay, lost
time, and saturation flow (Radhakrishnan and Ramadurai, 2015; Shao and Liu, 2012; HCM,
2010). This section presents an overview of the variation in discharge headway and saturation
flow as reported in the literature and discusses key contributing factors.
For theoretical estimation of saturation flow, the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM,
2010) prescribed the base saturation flow as 1900 passenger cars per hour of green per lane. A
range of variation in this flow is observed around the world. Hamad and Abuhamda (2015)
and Dey et al. (2013) reported detailed findings on base saturation flow in different parts of
the world. Variation is found within the range of 1600 to 2500 passenger cars per hour per
lane, which may be attributed to factors such as regional diversity in vehicle driving behavior,
the presence/absence of lane discipline during vehicle discharge, and the automobile
technology of local vehicular modes. The level of base saturation flow, as suggested by HCM
(2010) implies that in an ideal condition—namely, a homogeneous through-traffic stream
discharging from a signalized approach having 0% grade and free from any neighboring

311
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

traffic impedance factors—mean discharge headway is a little less than 2 s, which is formally
termed the saturation headway. Saturation headway starts to occur between the 3rd and 6th
vehicles in the queue (Bester and Meyers, 2007). However, HCM (2010) reported a somewhat
different range—between the 4th and 14th vehicles in the queue—to attain the saturation
headway. Another interesting finding was reported in the Canadian Capacity Guide (Teply et
al., 2008), which assumed that saturation headway is achieved between 25 s and 50 s of green
time, but does not remain constant as assumed in HCM (2010) (Lin and Thomas, 2005). In
this context, some studies (Li and Prevedouros, 2002; Teply, 1993) have reported that even
with sufficient demand, discharge headway drops below saturation headway after 40 s of
green time or the 20th vehicle in the queue during a long green split. Therefore, variation in
discharge headway plays a significant role in estimating the saturation flow rate on a
case-by-case basis. Queue position of vehicles is the prime factor that affects the distribution
of vehicle headway. Several studies reported that discharge headway decreased from the 1st
queued vehicle to the 4th or 5th and remained relatively constant thereafter (Sharma et al.,
2009; Parker, 1996; Moussavi and Tarawneh, 1990; Lu, 1984; Carstens, 1971; Greenshields et
al., 1947). However, the advent of new technology in cars and the consequent changes in road
users’ driving behavior have resulted in a sharper decrease in discharge headway for the first
few vehicles in the queue (Sharma et al., 2009). With respect to vehicle maneuvering
characteristics, both automobile technology and the physical configuration of a vehicle play a
critical role in discharge headway. Vehicles with a large wheelbase such as trucks and buses
induce a larger headway than passenger cars (Lu, 1984; Carstens, 1971; Greenshields et al.,
1947). Therefore, it is quite logical to conclude that the size and weight of the leading and
following vehicles have a significant bearing on discharge headway (Parker, 1996; Moussavi
and Tarawneh, 1990). Lu and Pernía (2000) found that the presence of older drivers in the
vehicle stream induces a reduction in saturation flow rate while increasing lost time.
Discharge headway also varies with the lane position of vehicles (Gonzalez, 2006;
Hung et al., 2002). Tong and Hung (2002) reported that the curbside lane induces a
significantly larger headway. However, the opposite trend was observed in Monterrey, Nuevo
Leon, Mexico as reported by Gonzalez (2006). Hence, lane assignment and lane sharing
strategy may also be identified as factors that influence discharge headway (Gonzalez, 2006).
Due to the presence of turning vehicles, through-moving vehicles result in a reduced level of
saturation flow for the assigned lane groups. Nevertheless, when the lanes are allocated for
exclusive turning movements, saturation flow is greatly influenced by the opposing through
vehicles or by the pedestrian flow along adjacent crosswalks (Bonneson, 1998).
Road-adjacent activities such as pedestrian flow, parking maneuvers, and dense commercial
establishments primarily in the CBD of a city, and nearside bus stops severely reduce the
saturation flow rate. Operational strategies of a traffic signal also have a significant influence
on vehicle discharge profile (Sharma et al., 2009). Signals operating on a timer raise drivers’
awareness about the initiation of the green split and thus reduce the discharge headway for the
first few vehicles. Similar trends are also observed toward the end of the green split. Timed
signals reduce the drivers’ uncertainties concerning the truncation of the green split. Sharma
et al. (2009) reported that non-timed signals result in three regimes in the distribution of
discharge headway while only two regimes are found for timed signals.
In a lane-based traffic environment, discharge headway is defined as the time lapse
between successive departures of vehicles from the stop line in a lane (Sharma et al., 2011;
McShane and Roess, 1990). However, discharge headway may not be the appropriate measure
to illustrate the stop-line discharge of vehicles in a nonlane-based mixed traffic environment
(Radhakrishnan and Ramadurai, 2015). This is because, in such scenario, the positioning of
vehicles at the stop line is observed to be uneven and dense along the longitudinal and lateral

312
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

directions of a carriageway. Vehicles do not necessarily form a disciplined queue while

departing from the stop line (Sharma et al., 2011). Vehicle maneuvering during discharge is
predominantly influenced by the lateral gap to adjacent vehicles and the physical
configuration of other nearby vehicles. For example, a car located adjacent to a bike
maneuvers more swiftly during discharge than a car located adjacent to a bus. Radhakrishnan
and Ramadurai (2015) proposed a strip-based approach for measuring headway that considers
only the presence of the preceding vehicle in a strip. They defined the headway of a particular
vehicle in a particular strip as the minimum headway of the following vehicles in the same
strip. However, this may not be necessarily valid, as a larger vehicle, such as a bus, may
influence the headway of more than one vehicle. To eliminate such assumptions related to
headway and to include the effect of lateral gaps on the discharge of vehicles, we propose a
new measure, the vehicle passing interval (VPI), in place of vehicle discharge headway to
illustrate the vehicle discharge in a nonlane-based mixed traffic environment.

3. STUDY METHODOLOGY

The methodology adopted in this study for investigation of vehicle discharge profile at the
stop line in the case of nonlane-based mixed traffic operations is discussed in the following
sections.

3.1 Selection of Study Approaches and Development of the Database

For the purpose of the study, it was necessary to select signalized intersection approaches that
are representative of the nonlane-based mixed traffic environment. Kolkata is one of the
metropolitan cities in India with the distinct characteristics of mixed traffic operations and the
absence of lane discipline. Hence, a number of signalized approaches with similar traffic,
signals, and geometric characteristics within the same geographical location of Kolkata city
were identified. Video data were obtained at selected approaches by placing the video camera
overhead at a suitable height for a clear view of vehicle discharge; a representative video
frame is shown in Figure 1. All video data were collected during the morning peak periods at
the respective intersection approaches. The data were then processed remotely with respect to
six specific vehicle categories typical of the city of Kolkata: “bicycle”, motorized
two-wheeler (“bike”), motorized three-wheeler (“auto”), “car”/ “taxi”, light commercial
vehicle (“LCV”)/ “minibus”, and “bus”.
To investigate the discharge profile, instead of the traditional methods of considering
lane-based headway or discharge rate, VPI was used to reflect nonlane-based traffic behavior.
VPI is defined as the time elapsed between the passing of successive vehicles at the stop line
irrespective of their lateral position within the effectively available width of the carriageway
for one direction of vehicle movement at a signalized intersection approach. The use of VPI
eliminates the confusion involved in considering the headway of a particular vehicle that may
be influenced by more than one preceding vehicle due to nonlane-based space occupancy.

313
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

Figure 1. An example of a video frame of Lansdowne Approach

To measure VPI, the following steps were adopted. In step 1, the time elapsed after
initiation of green was recorded at the instant a particular vehicle crossed the stop line. In step
2, the VPI of a particular vehicle, ‘vi’, was obtained by deducting the elapsed time of passing
(ti–1) of the preceding vehicle, ‘vi–1’, from that (ti) of the vehicle ‘vi’. Figure 2 illustrates an
example of measuring VPI of different vehicles. Considering t1, t2, and t3 are the respective
times elapsed after initiation of the green phase for vehicles v1, v2, and v3 to cross the stop line,
and considering that t1<t2<t3, VPI of the first vehicle passing the stop line (v1) is t1, that of
vehicle v2 is (t2 – t1) and for vehicle v3, VPI is (t3 – t2), and so on. Note that at a signalized
intersection approach, more than one vehicle may pass the stop line at the exact same time.
Hence, a VPI of 0 s for a vehicle is possible. For the same reason, a high degree of accuracy
was necessary for processing the data and an accuracy of 0.04 s was achieved by extracting
the data from the video files on a frame-by-frame basis.

Figure 2. Measuring VPI of different vehicles at an approach

The overall distribution of VPI obtained at different signalized approaches was

compared using statistical tests to check for significant variation. A combined database was
then developed for further analysis of the vehicle discharge profile by considering
approximately 60 signal cycles for each of the selected intersection approaches for which
there were no significant variations in the overall distribution of VPI.

314
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

3.2 Detailed Analysis of Vehicle Discharge Characteristics

The data were analyzed in three stages to reflect the various factors influencing the vehicle
discharge characteristics at signalized intersection approaches in the case of nonlane-based
traffic. In Stage I, two specific aspects related to the characteristics of different vehicle
categories were investigated.
a) Variation of VPI with respect to vehicle category. In a mixed traffic environment, the
traffic composition may vary both spatially and temporally. Hence, we investigated
if there was any effect of vehicle category on VPI.
b) Share of bikes in the initial discharge. Motorized two-wheelers have the tendency to
seep in through the traffic in nonlane-based traffic streams and occupy the front
position in the queue. This aspect was therefore investigated.

In Stage II, the variations in VPI were examined with respect to two more aspects which
are discussed below.
a) Variation of VPI with respect to vehicle passing sequence. Since vehicles do not
form a particular queue during discharge in the case of nonlane-based traffic,
discharge headway based on vehicle position in a queue cannot be directly
investigated. Hence, variation in VPI was studied with respect to the sequence of
vehicles passing the stop line.
b) Variation of VPI with respect to the lateral position of vehicles. Although all
approaches considered in the study are effectively two-lane approaches, due to the
absence of lane discipline, more than two vehicles may occupy the available road
space laterally. Hence, three sections were identified, namely the curbside section,
the middle section, and the median-side section (Figure 3). The video files were
processed considering these three sections, and a vehicle was considered to be in a
particular section of the carriageway if a major portion of that vehicle laterally
occupied that particular section.

Figure 3. Designation of curbside, middle, and median-side sections on a two-lane approach

Finally, the implications of VPI on stop-line discharge rate were studied in Stage III of
the analysis. For estimation of discharge rate in the case of mixed traffic, it was necessary to
express the entire traffic in terms of passenger car units (PCU). Although, PCU values have
been recommended in the Indian Roads Congress guidelines (IRC, 1990; IRC, 1994), some
studies in the context of Indian traffic have indicated that PCU values are actually dynamic in
nature (Chandra and Kumar, 2003) and depend on a number of factors, such as traffic
composition and intersection configuration (Arasan and Arkatkar, 2010; Alex and Isaac, 2015;
Mohan and Chandra, 2016). For the purpose of this study, signalized intersection approaches
from the same geographical area with similar geometric, traffic, and control characteristics
were selected. Therefore, a fixed set of PCU values (Table 1) was adopted.

315
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

Table 1. PCU values for different vehicle categories

Vehicle category PCU value
Bicycle 0.60
Bike 0.40
Auto 1.00
Car/Taxi 1.00
LCV/Minibus 2.20
Bus 3.20

4. DATABASE DEVELOPMENT

Six representative signalized approaches were identified within the same geographical area of
the southern and southeastern parts of the city of Kolkata: Lansdowne, Deshapriya Park, West
Approach of Lake Stadium Intersection (Lake Stadium_1), South Approach of Lake Stadium
Intersection (Lake Stadium_2), Sarat Bose Road, and Metro Mall. All the approaches have a
similar intersection layout and geometry such as carriageway width (two-lane or effectively
two-lane) and approaches intersecting at right angles or at near right angles on level terrain.
All the selected approaches are controlled by fixed-time traffic signals having a phase
countdown timer. The speed limit for motorized vehicles at all approaches is enforced at 40
km/h. The traffic characteristics are also similar with predominantly through-moving traffic.
The traffic composition was also similar across all six approaches. “Car” and “taxi”
have the largest share of traffic composition with 55%–65%, and the share of “bike” is also
substantial at 15%–25%, which is a typical scenario in emerging economies. The other modes,
“auto”, “bicycle”, and large vehicles (“minibus” and “bus”) share 5%–8%, 2%–8%, and
3%–10%, respectively, of the entire traffic composition. Pearson’s chi-squared test
(Montgomery and Runger, 2010) was used to check for significant differences in average
traffic compositions at the six different intersection approaches investigated. The test results
are summarized in Table 2, which indicates that no significant differences in traffic
composition were found at a 95% level of confidence. Therefore, it was concluded that the
intersection approaches also have similar traffic composition in addition to geometric and
control characteristics.
A histogram was plotted to investigate VPI trends and to check any variation across the
approaches. Figure 4 shows that all six approaches exhibit similar trends with the majority of
VPI values in the range 0.5–2 s. The cumulative density function (CDF) up to 2 s (Figure 5) is
also found to be similar for all approaches. A nonparametric test, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov
(KS) test (Montgomery and Runger, 2010), was conducted to compare the distribution of VPI
over the selected approaches. As shown in Table 3, no significant differences were found at a
95% level of confidence. The test results imply that the selected intersection approaches not
only have similar geometric, traffic, and control characteristics, but also have similar vehicle
discharge characteristics. Therefore, the database for all six approaches was combined to form
a single database to investigate further the various characteristics of vehicle discharge in a
nonlane-based mixed traffic scenario.

Table 2. Chi-squared test values for traffic composition at the six intersection approaches

0.675 10.963 9.603 11.790 11.595 12.592

1 Lansdowne, 2 Deshapriya Park, 3 Lake Stadium_1, 4 Lake Stadium_2, 5 Sarat Bose Road, 6 Metro Mall.

316
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

Table 3. Comparison of the KS test statistic for VPI at the six intersection approaches

Intersection 1–2 1–3 1–4 1–5 1–6

Dintersection 0.034 0.043 0.029 0.049 0.045
Dcritical, 0.05 0.045 0.056 0.050 0.053 0.054
1 Lansdowne, 2 Deshapriya Park, 3 Lake Stadium_1, 4 Lake Stadium_2, 5 Sarat Bose Road, 6 Metro Mall.

35%
Lansdowne Deshapriya Park Lake Stadium_1
30%
Lake Stadium_2 Sarat Bose Road Metro Mall
25%
Percentage Frequency

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8
Vehicle Passing Interval (s)
Figure 4. VPI for the six intersection approaches

Lansdowne Deshapriya Park Lake Stadium_1

Lake Stadium_2 Sarat Bose Road Metro Mall
100%

90%

80%
Cummulative Frequency (%)

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2
Vehicle Passing Interval (s)
Figure 5. CDF of VPI up to 2 s for the six intersection approaches

317
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

5. ANALYSIS and FINDINGS

5.1 Stage I Analysis

5.1.1 Vehicle category-specific variation of VPI

The traffic stream at the study intersection approaches included seven specific vehicle
categories. Although similar, “car” and “taxi” were considered as separate vehicle categories
due to the difference in driving behavior (Xu et al, 2014). While the vehicle category “car”
belongs to the category of private transport, “taxi” is a para-transit mode. The VPI values of
these two categories were compared using a one-tailed t test (Montgomery and Runger, 2010),
and the t-statistic was found to be significant at a 95% confidence level (t = –1.880, tcritical, one
tail = 1.645).
A box plot indicates the variation among the different vehicle categories (Figure 6). The
category “bike” shows the lowest average VPI at 0.77 s, followed by “bicycle” at 0.86 s.
However, the spread of “bicycle” is higher than that of “bike”. The categories “auto”, “car”,
and “taxi” show similar average VPI values of 0.98 s, 1.05 s, and 1.12 s, respectively.
However, the spread of the category “taxi” is greater than the other two modes. The categories
“minibus” and “bus” show the highest average VPI values of 1.25 s and 1.60 s, respectively,
with a higher spread for “bus”.
These results indicate that VPI varies with vehicle category in mixed traffic conditions.
In general, for the observed scenario of roadway and traffic conditions, this trend reflects the
significance of each vehicle category on stop-line discharge in a mixed traffic stream. It may
be inferred that the presence of small vehicles such as “bicycle”, “bike”, and “auto” improves
the discharge rate while, on the other hand, the presence of larger vehicles such as “minibus”
and “bus” has a detrimental effect on vehicle discharge. These implications may influence the
design of traffic signals in intersections where different traffic compositions along different
approaches need to be catered for.

6
5.5
5
4.5
Vehicle Passing Interval (s)

4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Bicycle Bike Auto Car Taxi Mini Bus Bus
Vehicle Category

Figure 6. Box plot showing VPI values of individual vehicle categories

318
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

5.1.2 Share of the category “bike” in the initial discharge

In emerging countries such as India, the vehicle category “bike” has a significant share of the
vehicle population due to its affordability and ease of use in congested traffic streams. Bikes
can easily seep in through vehicle queues at intersection approaches and occupy the front
position in the queue. To investigate this kind of behavior in nonlane-based traffic streams, the
discharge data were analyzed considering the vehicle category in sequence crossing the stop
line.
Figure 7 shows the ‘i’-th vehicle in sequence crossing the stop line along the x-axis,
while the y-axis represents the probability that the ‘i’-th vehicle in the sequence is a “bike”. It
is evident that, up to the first five or six vehicles in sequence, the probability of “bike” is
significantly high ranging from about 0.45 to 0.35, although this particular vehicle category
shared only about 20% of the entire traffic stream. This implies that, irrespective of the share
of “bike” in the overall traffic composition, a significant proportion of “bike” is discharged in
the initial few seconds of green. Motorized two-wheelers are quick to react to the change in
phase and hence it is essential to provide adequate intergreen times at signalized intersections
with a substantial bike share to allow clearance of vehicles and avoid conflicts of bikes with
the last few vehicles from the previous phase clearing the intersection.

0.50
0.45
Probability that the Vehicle in

0.40
Sequence is a "Bike"

0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Vehicle in Sequence Crossing the Stop Line

Figure 7. Probability of “bike” in relation to vehicle passing sequence at the stop line

5.2 Stage II Analysis

5.2.1 Variation in VPI in relation to vehicle passing sequence

Studies have indicated that the rate of discharge does not remain constant but changes with
the vehicle position in the queue (Chaudhry and Ranjitkar, 2013; Lin and Thomas, 2005).
Hence, this aspect was investigated in the present study. Since there is no disciplined queue
formation in the context of nonlane-based traffic, the sequence of a vehicle passing the stop
line after initiation of the green phase was considered in place of the vehicle position in the
queue.
When all vehicles were considered irrespective of vehicle category, VPI showed a
gradually increasing trend in relation to the vehicle passing sequence. However, different
trends were observed when the VPI was investigated for different categories of vehicles in the
passing sequence at the stop line. For the vehicle category “car”, the vehicle passing sequence
indicated a fairly constant VPI, while that for “bike” indicated a gradually increasing VPI; for

319
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

“bus”, the VPI was observed to be nonuniform. These variations are reflected in Figure 8. The
findings suggest that the variation in discharge rate with respect to the vehicle in sequence
also depends on the categories of the vehicles; hence, traffic composition again plays an
important role in the discharge profile.

Figure 8. Vehicle category-specific variation in VPI in relation to vehicles in sequence passing

the stop line

5.2.2 Variation in relation to the lateral position of vehicles

Previous work has suggested that in the case of nonlane-based mixed traffic conditions,
vehicles try to occupy any available space in the carriageway (Arasan and Arkatkar, 2010).
We therefore investigated whether the share of road space is actually random or whether there
is an element of human behavior involved in sharing of road space. Two-lane approaches
were divided into three sections (Figure 3) and the vehicle category passing through each
section was recorded. Further analysis indicated that two-wheeler modes, such as “bicycle”
and “bike”, prefer to use the curbside section, while the mode “car” prefers the median-side
section. This may be attributed to the behavior of two-wheeler users preferring the
lower-speed section from the viewpoint of safety, while “car” users prefer the median-side
due to lower side friction and higher speed compared with the curbside section. The public
transport modes of “auto”, “minibus”, and “bus” prefer the curbside section, for the boarding
and alighting of passengers at curbside stops. The vehicle category-specific share of road
space is shown in Table 4.
The vehicle discharge data were further analyzed to investigate if there was any
variation in VPI with respect to the lateral position of the vehicle along the available effective
width of the carriageway. A t test (Montgomery and Runger 2010) was conducted to check if
there was any significant difference between VPI values at the curbside and median-side

320
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

sections. A t value of 3.625 (p = 0.0003) was obtained, which indicated that the VPI at the
curbside is significantly different from the VPI at the median-side section at a 95% confidence
level (tcritical, 0.05 = 1.960). The average VPI on the curbside section was highest at 1.31 s/PCU
compared with the middle and median-side sections (1.27 and 1.22 s/PCU, respectively). This
is likely because the share of two-wheelers is higher on the curbside, as well as the existence
of higher side friction compared with the median-side section. Hence, to improve intersection
performance, adequate enforcement and engineering practices may be carried out at the
curbside to reduce side friction and improve vehicular discharge.

Table 4. Share of vehicle category on different sections of the available approach width

Section Share (%)

of road Bicycle + Bike Auto Car + Taxi Minibus + Bus
Curbside 21 8 51 20
Middle 11 5 74 10
Median-side 8 1 82 9

5.3 Stage III Analysis

The findings in the previous sections reflect the heterogeneity across different vehicle
categories with respect to discharge at the stop line. We next examined stop-line discharge in
terms of PCU/h.
The analysis indicated that the discharge rate varied over different intervals of green
time. Figure 9 highlights VPI values for Lansdowne Intersection, and shows that VPI is
initially high in the first 5 s, then levels out up to 20 s, after which it again increases and
becomes nonuniform. The same trend can also be seen in Figure 10, which shows the
discharge rate in terms of PCU/h for different intervals of green time. All six intersection
approaches show the same pattern of stop-line discharge. In the first 5 s, the discharge rate
varies between 2800 and 3000 PCU/h; in the next 5 s, the rate increases to 3000–3300 PCU/h.
The low discharge rate in the initial few seconds may be attributed to the high share of small
vehicles, such as “bicycle” and “bike”, in the first five or six vehicles discharging from the
vehicle stream as well as consideration of the start-up lost time. The peak discharge rate of
~3600 PCU/h is achieved during an interval of 10–20 s of green time. The peak discharge rate
varies between 3400 and 3600 PCU/h across the intersection approaches. These findings
suggest that the variation in discharge rate with respect to elapsed green time or vehicle
position in the queue (Lin and Thomas, 2005; Kyte et al, 2008; Chaudhry and Ranjitkar,
2013) is not unique to lane-based disciplined traffic operations, but is also applicable to
nonlane-based mixed traffic operations. However, the peak discharge rate is not sustained for
longer intervals, and after 20 s, the discharge rate reduces to 2800–3200 PCU/h; after 25 s,
there is a further reduction in discharge rate with variations of 2000–3000 PCU/h. It should be
noted that, in the present work, a peak discharge rate of ~1800 PCU/h/lane was achieved in
two-lane approaches. However, our investigation suggests that the discharge rate varies with
the duration of green time. Therefore, further research is necessary to reexamine the current
practice of adopting a constant average discharge rate in the case of emerging economies with
nonlane-based mixed traffic streams. Consideration of variable discharge rates with respect to
duration of the green phase may result in a more efficient design of traffic signal systems in
such traffic scenarios.

321
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

2.4
2.2
2
1.8
Vehicle Passing Interval (s/pcu)

1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Seconds of Green time (s)

Figure 9. VPI at different intervals of green time for Lansdowne Approach

Lansdowne Deshapriya Park Lake Stadium 1

Lake Stadium 2 Sarat Bose Road Metro Mall
4000
Discharge Rate (PCU/hour)

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Seconds of Green (s)

Figure 10. Discharge rate at the different intervals of green for the six intersection approaches

322
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

6. CONCLUSION

Our study highlights some interesting evidence in the context of vehicle discharge at
signalized intersection approaches for nonlane-based mixed traffic operations. Here, we
adopted a new measure—the vehicle passing interval—to deal with the absence of lane
discipline in traffic operations, and the methodology was demonstrated with reference to a
case study involving six two-lane signalized approaches in Kolkata city, India.
Our findings provide insight into the characteristics of vehicle discharge. Variations in
VPI values were observed in relation to different factors such as the lateral and longitudinal
positions of the vehicle and the vehicle category. VPI values varied with respect to all seven
vehicle categories with minimum values for “bike” and maximum for “bus”. “Bike” users
have a tendency to seep in through the traffic stream and occupy the front positions in the
vehicle queue. Thus, our findings from the analysis show that the share of “bike” is high in
the first few vehicles to be discharged from the traffic stream after initiation of the green
phase. The curbside section indicated higher VPI values compared with the middle and
median-side sections, which may be attributed to a higher share of “bike” and “bicycle”
categories and the existence of side friction on the curbside. Variation in discharge rate was
also observed with respect to different intervals of green time for all six intersection
approaches. This implies that, in the case of nonlane-based mixed traffic operations, it is
necessary to reexamine the practice of adopting a constant average discharge rate. Our
findings indicate that it is important to recognize the dynamics of vehicle discharge in the case
of nonlane-based mixed traffic operations.
The present study investigated vehicle discharge for two-lane approaches with similar
geometric characteristics, control characteristics, traffic compositions, and predominantly
through-moving traffic. The proposed measure of the vehicle passing interval may also be
used to study the influence of additional factors, such as varying intersection geometry, the
effect of right turns, and nearside bus stops, on vehicle discharge profile. Other vehicle
discharge characteristics, such as start-up lost time and the effect of lateral and longitudinal
spacing of vehicles, can be explored in light of the VPI measure introduced here. Findings
may then be applied to a more efficient design of urban traffic signal timings in the context of
emerging economies with heterogeneous traffic streams.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to the Science and Engineering
Research Board (SERB, DST), Government of India for providing their kind support as per
Grant No.: SB/S3/CEE/0015/2013.

REFERENCES

Akçelik, R., Besley, M. (2002). Queue discharge flow and speed models for signalised
intersections. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium on Transportation and
Traffic Theory, 99–118, Adelaide, Australia, July 16–18.
Alex, S., Isaac, K.P. (2015). Dynamic PCU values at signalised intersections in India for
mixed traffic. International Journal for Traffic and Transport Engineering, 1(5), 197–209.
Arasan, V.T., Arkatkar, S.S. (2010). Microsimulation study of effect of volume and road width
on PCU of vehicles under heterogeneous traffic. Journal of Transportation Engineering,

323
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

136(12), 1110–1119.
Bester, C.J., Meyers, W.L. (2007). Saturation flow rates. Department of Civil Engineering,
University of Stellenbosch.
Bonneson, J.A. (1992). Modeling queued driver behavior at signalized junctions.
Transportation Research Record, 1365, 99–107.
Bonneson, J.A. (1998). Lane volume and saturation flow rate for multilane intersection
approach. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 124(3), 240–245.
Carstens, R.L. (1971). Some traffic parameters at signalized intersections. Traffic Engineering,
Institute of Traffic Engineers, 41(11), 33–36.
Chandra, S., Kumar, U. (2003). Effect of lane width on capacity under mixed traffic
conditions in India. Journal of transportation engineering, 129(2), 155–160.
Chaudhry, M. S., Ranjitkar, P. (2013). Delay estimation at signalized intersections with
variable queue discharge rate. Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation
Studies, 10(0), 1764–1775.
Chaudhry, M.S., Ranjitkar, P. (2015). Traffic Signal Design with an Increasing Queue
Discharge Rate. Asian Transport Studies, 3(3), 328–344.
Dey, P.P., Nandal, S., Kalyan, R. (2013). Queue discharge characteristics at signalised
intersections under mixed traffic conditions. European Transport, 55(7), 1–12.
Gonzalez, L.F.G. (2006). Discharge Headway at Signalized Intersections in Monterrey, Nuevo
Leon, Mexico. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Texas at Arlington, USA
(https://uta-ir.tdl.org/uta-ir/bitstream/handle/10106/312/umi-uta-1221.pdf; Accessed
February 25, 2017).
Greenshields, B.D., Shapiro, D., Erickson, E.L. (1947). Traffic performance at urban street
intersections. Technical Report 1, Bureau of Highway Traffic. Yale University, New Haven,
CT.
Hamad, K., Abuhamda, H. (2015). Estimating base saturation flow rate for selected signalized
intersections in Doha, Qatar. Journal of Traffic and Logistics Engineering, 3(2), 168–171.
HCM. (2010). Highway Capacity Manual. Transportation Research Board. National Research
Council, Washington, D.C.
Hung, W., Tian, F., Tong, H. (2002). Departure headways at one signalized junction in Hong
Kong. In: Proceedings of Better Air Quality: Tales of Pacific Rim Megacities Workshop.
Hong Kong, December 16–18.
IRC-106. (1990). Guidelines for capacity of urban roads in plain areas. Indian Roads
Congress. Govt. of India, New Delhi.
IRC-SP-41. (1994). Guidelines for the design of at-grade intersections in rural and urban
areas. Indian Roads Congress. Govt. of India, New Delhi.
Kyte, M., Dixon, M., Urbanik, T., Nayak, V., Abdel-Rahim, A. (2008). Characteristics of
high-resolution queue discharge and the effect on signal timing. Transportation Research
Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2080, 28–36.
Li, H., Prevedouros, P. (2002). Detailed observations of saturation headways and start-up lost
times. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board,
1802, 44–53.
Lin, F.B., Thomas, D. (2005). Headway compression during queue discharge at signalized
intersections. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research
Board, 1920, 81–85.
Lu, J.J., Pernía, J.C. (2000). The differences of driving behavior among different driver age
groups at signalized intersections. International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences
Research, 24(2), 75–84.
Lu, Y.J. (1984). Study of left-turn maneuver time for signalized intersections. Institute of

324
 Bhattacharyya, K., et al. / Asian Transport Studies, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2018), 310-325.

Transportation Engineers journal, 54(10), 42–47.

McShane, W.R., Roess, R.P. (1990). Traffic engineering. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey.
Mohan, M., Chandra, S. (2016). Three methods of PCU estimation at unsignalized
intersections. Transportation Letters, 10(2), 68–74.
Montgomery, D.C., Runger, G.C. (2010). Applied statistics and probability for engineers.
John Wiley & Sons.
Moussavi, M., Tarawneh, M. (1990). Variability of departure headways at signalized
intersections. In: Proceedings of ITE Annual Meeting. Washington, DC, USA, 333–317.
Nguyen, H.D. (2016). Saturation flow rate analysis at signalized intersections for mixed
traffic conditions in motorcycle dependent cities. Transportation Research Procedia, 15,
694–708.
Parker, M.T. (1996). The effect of heavy goods vehicles and following behaviour on capacity
at motorway roadwork sites. Traffic engineering and control, 37(9), 524–531.
Radhakrishnan, S., Ramadurai, G. (2015). Discharge headway model for heterogeneous traffic
conditions. Transportation Research Procedia, 10, 145–154.
Shao, C.Q., Liu, X.M. (2012). Estimation of Saturation Flow Rates at Signalized Intersections.
Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, 2012, Article ID 720474, 9 pages.
Sharma, A., Vanajakshi, L., Rao, N. (2009). Effect of phase countdown timers on queue
discharge characteristics under heterogeneous traffic conditions. Transportation research
record: Journal of the Transportation research Board, 2130, 93–100.
Sharma, A., Vanajakshi, L., Girish, V., Harshitha, M.S. (2011). Impact of signal timing
information on safety and efficiency of signalized intersections. Journal of transportation
engineering, 138(4), 467–478.
Srivastava, A., Jin, W.L., Lebacque, J.P. (2015). A modified Cell Transmission Model with
realistic queue discharge features at signalized intersections. Transportation Research Part
B: Methodological, 81, 302–315.
Teply, S. (1993). Probability of Overload at Signalized Intersections. Transportation Research
Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 1398, 101–110.
Teply, S., Allingham, D. I., Richardson, D. B., Stephenson, B. W. (2008). Canadian capacity
guide for signalized intersections. Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers, Toronto,
Canada.
Tong, H.Y., Hung, W.T. (2002). Neural network modeling of vehicle discharge headway at
signalized intersection: model descriptions and results. Transportation Research Part A:
Policy and Practice, 36(1), 17–40.
Wong, K.I., Lee, T.C., Chen, Y.Y. (2016). Traffic Characteristics of Mixed Traffic Flows in
Urban Arterials. Asian Transport Studies, 4(2), 379–391.
Xu, C.C., Liu, P., Wang, W., Jiang, X., Chen, Y.G. (2014). Effects of behavioral characteristics
of taxi drivers on safety and capacity of signalized intersections. Journal of Central South
University, 21, 4033–4042.

325

View publication stats