Traffic Control Signals

Traffic Engineering
 Basics of Traffic Control Signals
Any power-operated traffic control device other than a barricade warning light or
steady burning electric lamp, by which traffic is warned or directed to take some
specific action (MUTCD, 1988 amended in 1994).

The benefits of traffic control signals:

1. They can provide orderly movement of traffic
2. With proper layout and control measures increases capacity of a junction
3. Reduce accidents, specially right-angle type accidents
4. Under favourable conditions, can coordinate continuous flow of traffic in priority direction
5. Very effective in providing right-of-way to traffic from minor street in heavy traffic conditions

Unwarranted, poorly-designed, or improperly operated traffic controls can cause excessive

delay, encourage violation and increase the chance of accidents specially read-end types
 Traffic Control signals
Steady Circular Indication: Applied to all movements facing the lights
GREEN, YELLOW/AMBER, RED

Flashing Circular Indication:

YELLOW (Drivers may proceed with caution)
RED (Same as STOP sign)

Steady Arrow Indication:

GREEN (Traffic may execute movement in direction of arrow, but must yield
to pedestrians legally crossing)
YELLOW (Similar to circular indication except it applies to a certain direction
RED (Same as circular indication)

Flashing Arrow Indication:

Similar to flashing circular yellow or red indication, except that they apply to
a certain direction
 Definitions and notations
Cycle
A signal cycle is one complete rotation
through all of the indications provided
Cycle length C
Cycle length is the time in seconds that it
takes a signal to complete one full cycle of
indications
time interval between start of a green till next
green for a any approach
 Definitions and notations
Interval
indicates change from one stage to another
Change interval / Yellow / Amber
interval between the green and red
Clearance interval / All-Red
after each yellow
all signals show red
used for clearing off the vehicles
 Definitions and notations
Green interval Gi
Duration the green light of a traffic signal is
turned on

Red interval Ri
Duration the red light of a traffic signal is
turned on
 Definitions and notations
Lost time
Time during which intersection is not
effectively utilized for any movement
E.g. reaction time of the first driver in the
queue
 Definitions and notations
Phase
Green interval + change interval + clearance
interval
During green interval non-conflicting
movements are cleared
A set of intervals that allows a/a set of
designated movements to flow and to halt
safely. Each phase is divided into intervals. A
phase is typically made up of three intervals:
green, yellow, and all-red

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 Definitions and notations
Permitted movement: A movement that is made through a
conflicting pedestrian or other vehicle movement.
This is commonly used for right-turning movements where
right-turn volumes are reasonable and where gaps in the
conflicting movement are adequate to accommodate turns.

Protected movement: A movement that is made without

conflict with other movements.

The movement is protected by traffic control signal design

with a designated green time for the specific movement.
 Definitions and notations
Signal group: A set of signals that must always show
identical indications. A signal group controls a/a set of
traffic streams that are always given right-of-way
simultaneously.
The timing of a signal group is specified by periods
 Phase, Group
Example Intersection
The intersection has 3 approaches and 6 possible
movements (numbered)
 Phase, Group
Potential Phase Diagram

Each phase represents a distinct time period within the cycle

The signal timing is defined by specifying the percentages of
the cycle length (phase splits) allocated to each phase
This split time is further divided among the intervals of each
phase
 Signal Design Stages
Phase Design
Interval Design
Cycle Length Determination
Green Splitting
Pedestrian Requirements
Performance Evaluation
Phase, Group
Potential Signal Group Diagram

The timing of each signal group is represented by a horizontal

bar whose length is the cycle length
Each bar for each signal group is divided into different periods
In operation, these signal groups advance in time independently
Phase, Group
Relation between phase and groups

Signal phasing can be inferred by reading the signal group diagram vertically
The start of every green period corresponds to the start of a phase, and the
time in which all signal groups remain in a single period corresponds to an
interval
Phase, Group
Relation between phase and groups
 Types of control signals
Pretimed operation: The cycle length, phases, green times and
change intervals are all preset

Several preset timing patterns may be used, each being

implemented automatically at fixed times of the day

Semiactuated operation: The major approach has a green

indication at all times until detectors on the minor approaches
sense a vehicle/vehicles. The signal then provides a green time for
the minor approach, after an appropriate change interval.

The cycle length and green times may vary from cycle to cycle in
response to demand.
 Types of operations
Fully-actuated operation: All signal phases are controlled by
detector actuations (embedded on every intersection
approach and is subjected to limiting values preset in
detector)

Preset minimum and maximum green times and minimum

gaps between detector actuation.

The cycle lengths, phase sequence and interval lengths

may vary from cycle to cycle in response to demand.
 Types of control logic
Pretimed Control: Follows the pretimed operation not
demand-responsive the cycle length and the phase
splits and durations of each interval within each phase
are set at fixed values

Actuated control: Follows the semi-actuated and full

actuated operations able to extend the length of the
green interval for a particular phase able to skip a phase
if no demand for that phase is present
 Types of control logic
Adaptive control: Follows the full actuated operation
responds to traffic demand in real time
common adjustments made are to the cycle time and to
the phase splits
detector data is used by controller to estimate conditions
at the intersections and to respond to them in real-time
Logic is often optimization-based, allocating green time to
maximize vehicle throughput or to minimize measures
such as vehicle delays or stops
Adaptive logic can also be predictive
 Phase Design
Objective

Separate the conflicting movements into

various phases
Complete separation implies large number of
phases
So design phases with minimum conflicts or
with less severe conflicts
 Phase Design
Major conflicts

Through Through
E.g 1-3

Through Right
E.g 3-5

Right Right
E.g 8-5
 Phase Design
Two phase signals
 Phase Design
Four phase signal: Option I
 Phase Design
Four phase signal: Option II

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 Phase Design
Four phase signal: Option III
 Phase Design
Four phase signal: All Options
 Signal Design Stages
Phase Design
Interval Design
Cycle Length Determination
Green Splitting
Pedestrian Requirements
Performance Evaluation

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 Interval Design
Change Interval
Yellow time / Amber time
To warn a driver of the end of a green time
Given after green time (3- 6 Sec)
Clearance Interval
All-Read
to clear off vehicles already in the intersection
Given after Yellow time (2-4 Sec)
 Interval Design: Amber
Design Consideration
a driver approaching the intersection with
design speed should be able to stop at the
stop line of the intersection before the start of
red time
Simple formulae
y=SSD/v
y is the length of yellow interval in seconds
SSD is the stopping sight distance
v is the speed of the vehicle
 Interval Design: Amber
Design Consideration
ITEs recommendation

y length of yellow interval in seconds

t reaction time of the driver
v85 85th percentile speed (m/sec)
a deceleration rate of vehicles in m/sec2
g grade of approach expressed as a decimal
 Signal Design Stages
Phase Design
Interval Design
Cycle Length Determination
Green Splitting
Pedestrian Requirements
Performance Evaluation
 Cycle Time
Definition
Time taken by a signal to complete one full
cycle of iterations C
Understanding of
Saturation Flow s and Lost Time tL
a group of N vehicles waiting for green

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 Cycle Time
Saturation flow

Saturation Headway

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 Discharge Headways
Consider N vehicles discharging from the intersection when a
green indication is received.

The first discharge headway is the time between the initiation

of the green indication and the rear wheels of the first vehicle
to cross over the stop line.
The Nth discharge headway (N>1) is the time between the rear
wheels of the N-1 th and N th vehicles crossing over the stop line.
 Discharge Headways

The headway begins to level off with 4 or 5th vehicle.

The level headway = saturation headway
 Saturation flow rate
In a given lane, if every vehicle consumes an average of h
seconds of green time, and if the signal continues to be
uninterruptedly green, then S vph could enter the
intersection where S is the saturation flow rate (vehicles
per hour of green time per lane) given by

3600
S=
h
 Cycle Time
Saturation Flow

Saturation flow rate

s is the saturation flow rate in vehicles per

hour of green time per lane

h is the saturation headway in seconds

.

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 Lost time
Start-up lost time: At the beginning of each green indication as the first few cars
in a standing queue experience start-up delays,

l1 = e(i )
e(i) = (actual headway-h) for vehicle I

Calculated for all vehicles with headway>h

green time necessary to clear N vehicles,

T = l1 + h( N )
 Lost time
The change interval lost time: It is estimated by the amount of the change
interval not used by vehicles; this is generally a portion of the yellow plus all-red
intervals

The 1994 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) adds the two lost times together to
form one lost time and put it at the beginning of an interval. Default value = 3.0
seconds per phase
 Cycle Time
Lost Time

Lost time

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 Cycle Time
Lost Time

.
Green time require to clear N vehicles

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 Cycle Time
Effective green time

Actual time available for the vehicles to cross

the intersection

Actual green time Gi + yellow Yi - lost times tL

.

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 Cycle Time
Lane capacity
green ratio : ratio of effective green time to the
cycle length gi/C

ci = capacity of lane in veh/hr

si =the saturation
. flow rate in veh/hr/lane
C = cycle time in seconds
Critical Lane and critical lane volume

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 Cycle Time
Determination of cycle length
time taken for complete indication of signals

Start up lost time

or
.

No of cycles per hour 3600/C

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 Cycle Time
Determination of cycle length

total lost time per hour =

total effective green time per hour Tg

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 Cycle Time
Determination of cycle length

maximum volumes per hour

Vc

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 Cycle Time
Determination of cycle length

To account for hourly variation of traffic

PHF (peak Hour Factor)
Ratio of hourly volume to the maximum flow rate

Introducing quality of service

The Volume to Capacity Ration v/c

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 Cycle Time
Determination of cycle length

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 Cycle Time
Determination of cycle length

Highway capacity manual (HCM)

Xc Degree of saturation

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 Cycle Time
The traffic flow in an intersection is shown in the figure 41:8. Given start-up
lost time is 3 seconds, saturation head way is 2.3 seconds, compute the
cycle length for that intersection. Assume a two-phase signal.

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 Cycle Time
The traffic flow in an intersection is shown in the figure 41:8. Given start-up
lost time is 3 seconds, saturation head way is 2.3 seconds, compute the
cycle length for that intersection. Assume a two-phase signal.

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 Cycle Time
The traffic flow in an intersection is shown in the figure 41:8. Given start-up
lost time is 3 seconds, saturation head way is 2.3 seconds, compute the
cycle length for that intersection. Assume a two-phase signal.

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 Cycle Time
The traffic flow in an intersection is shown in the figure 41:8. Given start-up
lost time is 3 seconds, saturation head way is 2.3 seconds, compute the
cycle length for that intersection. Assume a two-phase signal.

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 Signal Design Stages
Phase Design
Interval Design
Cycle Length Determination
Green Splitting
Pedestrian Requirements
Performance Evaluation

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 Green Splitting
Definition
Green splitting or apportioning of green time
Splitting or proportioning of effective green
time into each of the signal phase
Green time is proportional to the critical
volume for each phase

where Vci is the critical lane volume and tg is the total effective green time
available in a cycle. This will be cycle time minus the total lost time for all the
phases.
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 Green Splitting
Total effective green time Tg

OR

where tLi is the lost time for phase i, n is the number of phases and C is the
lost time in seconds. Actual greentime can be now found out as,

Actual green time

where Gi is the actual green time, gi is the effective green time available, yi is
the amber time, and Li is the lost time for phase i.

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 Green Splitting
Prob: The phase diagram with flow values of an intersection with two phases is
shown in figure 1. The lost time and yellow time for the first phase is 2.5 and 3
seconds respectively. For the second phase the lost time and yellow time are
3.5 and 4 seconds respectively. If the cycle time is 120 seconds, find the green
time allocated for the two phases.

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The phase diagram with flow values of an intersection with two phases is shown in
figure 1. The lost time and yellow time for the first phase is 2.5 and 3 seconds
respectively. For the second phase the lost time and yellow time are 3.5 and 4 seconds
respectively. If the cycle time is 120 seconds, find the green time allocated for the two
phases.

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 Signal Design Stages
Phase Design
Interval Design
Cycle Length Determination
Green Splitting
Pedestrian Requirements
Performance Evaluation

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 Pedestrian
Crossing requirements
By Phase Design

Or by Exclusive Pedestrian Phase

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 Pedestrian
Pedestrian crossing requirements can be taken care by two ways;

By suitable phase design. It is possible in some cases to allocate time for the
pedestrians without providing an exclusive phase for them. For example,
consider an intersection in which the traffic moves from north to south and also
from east to west. If we are providing a phase which allows the traffic to flow
only in north-south direction, then the pedestrians can cross in east-west
direction and vice-versa.

By providing an exclusive pedestrian phase.

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 Pedestrian
Green time for Exclusive Ped. Phase

Gp Ped. green time in seconds

ts start-up lost time (4.7 seconds)
dx crossing distance (m)
up walking speed (1.2 m/sec) 15th percentile

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 Signal Design Stages
Phase Design
Interval Design
Cycle Length Determination
Green Splitting
Pedestrian Requirements
Performance Evaluation

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 Performance Evaluation
Performance measures are parameters used to
evaluate the effectiveness of the design. There
are many parameters involved to evaluate the
effectiveness of the design and most common of
these include delay, queuing, and stops. Delay is
a measure that most directly relates the driver's
experience. It describes the amount of time that
is consumed while traversing the intersection.

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 Performance Evaluation
The figure on next slide shows a plot of distance
versus time for the progress of one vehicle. The
desired path of the vehicle as well as the actual
progress of the vehicle is shown. There are
three types of delay as shown in the figure. They
are stopped delay, approach delay and control
delay.
 Performance Evaluation
Types of Delay
 Performance Evaluation
Stopped time delay includes only the time at
which the vehicle is actually stopped waiting at
the red signal. It starts when the vehicle reaches
a full stop, and ends when the vehicle begins to
accelerate.
Approach delay includes the stopped time as
well as the time lost due to acceleration and
deceleration. It is measured as the time
differential between the actual path of the
vehicle, and path had there been green signal.
 Performance Evaluation
Control delay is measured as the difference
between the time taken for crossing the
intersection and time taken to traverse the same
section, had been no intersection. For a
signalized intersection, it is measured at the
stop-line as the vehicle enters the intersection.

Among various types of delays, stopped delay is

easy to derive and often used as a performance
indicator and will be discussed.

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 Performance Evaluation
Parameters
Average delay per vehicles
Queue length in no. of vehicles
Average No. of Stops

Delay
Most perceived impact by the driver
Direct correlation to fuel consumption and
emission

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 Performance Evaluation
Websters Stopped Delay Model
Vehicles are not uniformly coming to an
intersection. i.e., they are not approaching the
intersection at constant time intervals. They
come in a random manner. This makes the
modeling of signalized intersection delay
complex. Most simple of the delay models is
Webster's delay model. It assumes that the
vehicles are arriving at a uniform rate.

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 Performance Evaluation
Websters Stopped Delay Model
Vehicle arrival uniform and not random

Vi arrival rate
S discharge rate
or saturation flow
gi eff. Green time
Ri effective red time
C cycle length

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 Performance Evaluation
Websters Stopped Delay Model

Average delay per

vehicle per cycle

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 Performance Evaluation
Other Perf Measures
Delay is the most frequently used parameter of
effectiveness for intersections. Other measures
like length of queue at any given time (QT ) and
number of stops are also useful. Length of
queue is used to determine when a given
intersection will impede the discharge from an
adjacent upstream intersection. The number of
stops made is an important input parameter in
air quality models.

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 Performance Evaluation
Cycle time verses Stopped Delay

C
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Thank You