Signal Timing

Ped Movements

Resource: CE229A, UC-Irvine, Prepared by Professor Will Recker

 Phase Interval Times

Interval Phase
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Walk
Ped Clear
Initial 6 14 6 8 9 10 6 10
Extension 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0
Max Green 20 50 15 35 20 50 15 35
Yellow 3 5 3 4 3 5 3 4
Red 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Permit        
Max Recall
Min Recall
Ped Recall
Lag Phase 
 Walk and Flashing Don’t Walk (FDW)

walk speed of about 4 ft/sec is usually assumed

FDW for NEMA Phase 2 should be greater than w 4.0 seconds

 Signal Timing

Initial (Minimum) Green

 Phase Interval Times

Interval Phase
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Walk
Ped Clear
Initial 6 14 6 8 9 10 6 10
Extension 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0
Max Green 20 50 15 35 20 50 15 35
Yellow 3 5 3 4 3 5 3 4
Red 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Permit        
Max Recall
Min Recall
Ped Recall
Lag Phase 
 Minimum Green or Initial Green:

1. Long enough for at least first vehicle to get to midpoint of intersection

d
"Normal acceleration"  5 ft sec 2
Conservative reaction time  2 sec
2  d 2
g min  Minimum green time  2 sec   2 sec  0.45 d
5 ft sec 2
 Minimum Green or Initial Green:

1. Long enough for at least first vehicle to get to midpoint of intersection

gmin  2 sec  0.45 100  6.5 sec

100 ft
"Normal acceleration"  5 ft sec 2
Conservative reaction time  2 sec
2  d 2
g min  Minimum green time  2 sec   2 sec  0.45 d
5 ft sec 2
 Minimum Green or Initial Green:

2. Long enough to meet motorists’ expectations: Vehicles

within about 400 ft of intersection when signal turns
green “expect” to proceed through on green.

400 ft
400 ft
g min 
x
 Minimum Green or Initial Green:

2. Long enough to meet motorists’ expectations: Vehicles

within about 400 ft of intersection when signal turns
green “expect” to proceed through on green.

400 ft
g min   9 sec
44 ft sec
30 mph = 44 ft/sec

400 ft
400 ft
g min 
x
 Minimum Green or Initial Green:

2. Long enough to meet motorists’ expectations: Vehicles

within about 400 ft of intersection when signal turns
green “expect” to proceed through on green.

400 ft
g min   5.5 sec
73 ft sec
50 mph = 73 ft/sec

400 ft
400 ft
g min 
x
 Minimum Green or Initial Green:

3. Long enough to clear “undetected” queued vehicles

d ext
n
L

n … 3 2 1

dext
Minimum headway between vehicles  2 sec/veh
Conservative reaction time  2 sec
2d ext
g min  2 sec  n  2 sec/veh  2 sec  sec
L
 Minimum Green or Initial Green:

3. Long enough to clear “undetected” queued vehicles

2(200 ft)
d ext g min  2 sec  sec  22 sec
n 20 ft
L

n … 3 2 1

20 ft

200 ft
Minimum headway between vehicles  2 sec/veh
Conservative reaction time  2 sec
2d ext
g min  2 sec  n  2 sec/veh  2 sec  sec
L
Signal Timing

Green Extension
 Phase Interval Times

Interval Phase
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Walk
Ped Clear
Initial 6 14 6 8 9 10 6 10
Extension 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0
Max Green 20 50 15 35 20 50 15 35
Yellow 3 5 3 4 3 5 3 4
Red 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Permit        
Max Recall
Min Recall
Ped Recall
Lag Phase 
Unit Extension or Passage Time:

Long enough for vehicle to make it to stop line

dext
d
text  ext
x
Unit Extension or Passage Time:

Long enough for vehicle to make it to stop line

200
50 mph = 73 ft/sec text   2.7 sec
73

200 ft
d
text  ext
x
Signal Timing

Yellow Interval
 Phase Interval Times

Interval Phase
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Walk
Ped Clear
Initial 6 14 6 8 9 10 6 10
Extension 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0
Max Green 20 50 15 35 20 50 15 35
Yellow 3 5 3 4 3 5 3 4
Red 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Permit        
Max Recall
Min Recall
Ped Recall
Lag Phase 
Dilemma Zone
Yellow Change Interval
x x x x

x
tYellow  tR 
2  (ab  G  g )
ds

d s  t R  x  db x2
db 
2  (ab  G  g ) x  tYellow  d s

x2
d s  tR  x 
2  (ab  G  g )

For example, for level grade ( G  0 ), if the approach speed x

is 40 mph, reaction time t R is 1 second, and ab  10 ft/sec2, then

tYellow  tR 
x
 1.0 

40  5280 
3600
ft/sec
 3.9 sec  4 sec
2  (ab  G  g ) 2  (10 ft/sec 2 )
 Signal Timing

Clearance (All Red) Interval

 Phase Interval Times

Interval Phase
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Walk
Ped Clear
Initial 6 14 6 8 9 10 6 10
Extension 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0
Max Green 20 50 15 35 20 50 15 35
Yellow 3 5 3 4 3 5 3 4
Red 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Permit        
Max Recall
Min Recall
Ped Recall
Lag Phase 
 All Red Clearance Interval

x x

w L
L w t All Red 
x

So, for example, if x is 40 mph, w  80 ft and L  15 ft,

(80  15) ft
t All Red   1.6 sec

40  5280
3600  ft/sec
 Phase Interval Times

Interval Phase
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Walk
Ped Clear
Initial 6 14 6 8 9 10 6 10
Extension 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 2.0
Max Green 20 50 15 35 20 50 15 35
Yellow 3 5 3 4 3 5 3 4
Red 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Permit        
Max Recall
Min Recall
Ped Recall
Lag Phase 
 Phase
Interval
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Walk

Ped Clearance (FDW)

Initial (Min Green)

Extension (Passage)

Minimum Gap

Time Before Reduce

Time to Reduce

Maximum Green

Yellow

Red Clearance

Permit

Max Recall

Min Recall

Ped Recall

Lag Phase
 P h a se
In te rv a l
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
W a lk

P e d C le a ra n c e (F D W )

I n itia l ( M in G r e e n )

E x te n s io n (P a s s a g e )

M in im u m G a p

T im e B e fo r e R e d u c e

T im e to R e d u c e

M a x im u m G re e n

Y e llo w

R e d C le a r a n c e

P e r m it

M a x R e c a ll
Passage Time M in R e c a ll

P e d R e c a ll

L a g P h a se

Minimum Gap

Time
Time Time
Before To
Beginning of Reduce Reduce
Extension period
Example Configuration: Minor Side Street
Example Configuration: Minor Side Street

Act as Stopline
Detectors
Example Configuration: Minor Side Street

Act as Extension
Detectors
 Example Configuration: Minor Side Street

Suppose we wanted to
extend the green only if
there still was a queue
on the side street.
Example Configuration: Minor Side Street
Example Configuration: Minor Side Street
 h7
h1  h2  h3  h4  h5  h6  h7  h
h6
x

h5
3600
h4 S  Saturation Flow Rate 
h
h3
h2
x

h1 Yellow
“All Red” Clearance
x
x
x

Time
x

Phase Length t
Recall
3600
h1  h2  h3  h4  h5  h6  h
S

Results of a Study:
Vehicle Headways for NEMA Phase 4

4.5
4.2

3.5
3.5

3
2.7
Seconds

2.5
2.3
2.1
2
2 1.9
1.8 1.8 1.8

1.5

0.5

0
h1 h2 h3 h4 h5 h6 h7 h8 h9 h10

Headway
 Vehicle Headways

4.5

4.2
4

3.5 3.5
Headway (Seconds)

2.7
2.5
2.3
2.1
2 2 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8

1.5

0.5

0
0 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 26

Time after Onset of Green (Seconds)

 INITIAL GREEN EXTENSION

Vehicle Headways

4.5

4.2
4

3.5 3.5
Headway (Seconds)

2.7
2.5
2.3
2.1
2 2 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8

1.5

0.5

0
0 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 26

Time after Onset of Green (Seconds)

 INITIAL GREEN EXTENSION

Vehicle Headways

4.5

4.2
4

3.5 3.5

Headway (Seconds)
3

2.7
2.5
2.3
2.1
2 2 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8

1.5

Gap Reduction: 1

0.5

4.0 sec 0
0 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 26

Time after Onset of Green (Seconds)

2.0 sec

Time
5 sec 10 sec

Beginning of
Extension period