Effects of Implementing Night Operation Signal Coordination on Arterials

Abstract

Traffic signal coordination, which connects a series of signals along an arterial by various coordination methodologies, has been proven as one of the most cost-effective means for alleviating traffic congestion. Various metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) or transportation management centers (TMC) have included signal timing updates in their strategic plans. However, in practice, signal coordination is usually implemented when traffic volume is heavy (i.e., during peak hours). For the rest of the day, the free operation strategy is usually used to reduce the waiting time of uncoordinated phases. However, this free operation strategy may result in the loss of operational efficiency on the major street. Currently, implementing signal coordination during off-peak hours is rare in the U.S. since there is lack of an efficient method that considers traffic operations for both the major and the minor streets. Therefore, this research provides a novel method that balances the control delays between the major street and the minor street. The procedure is to optimize the splits of the major street while also using the reservice strategy in the signal controller for the minor street. Microsimulation modeling was employed to assess the performance of traffic signal coordination during off-peak periods. Results show that, under reasonable splits, the coordination effect on the major street can be achieved and protected with an acceptable delay to minor street traffic. The strategy can be immediately implemented to reduce travel time for major street traffic.