Introducing a Cost-Effective Approach for Improving the Arterial Traffic Performance Operating Under the Semi-Actuated Coordinated Signal Control

TL;DR

This paper proposes a simple, cost-effective method to reduce delays in semi-actuated coordinated traffic signals by adjusting green splits, validated through regression analysis to find an optimal factor applicable across traffic conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, low-cost adjustment technique for existing traffic signal plans that improves performance without additional infrastructure or complex control systems.

Findings

Optimal Actuated Factor (ActF) is 1.15 for various traffic volumes.

Green split adjustments significantly reduce vehicle delays.

Method is effective without extra detector installation or adaptive controllers.

Abstract

The semi-actuated coordinated operation mode is a type of signal control where minor approaches are placed with detectors to develop actuated phasing while major movements are coordinated without using detection systems. The objective of this study is to propose a cost-effective approach for reducing delay in the semi-actuated coordinated signal operation without incurring any extra costs in terms of installing new detectors or developing adaptive controller systems. We propose a simple approach for further enhancing a pre-optimized timing plan. In this method, the green splits of non-coordinated phases are multiplied by a factor greater than one. In the meantime, the amount of green time added to the non-coordinated phases is subtracted from the coordinated phases to keep the cycle length constant. Thus, if the traffic demand on the side streets exceeds the expected traffic flow, the added time in the non-coordinated phase enables the non-coordinated phases to accommodate the additional traffic demand. A regression analysis is implemented so as to identify the optimal value of the mentioned factor, called Actuated Factor (ActF). The response variable is the average delay reduction (seconds/vehicle) of the simulation runs under the proposed signal timing plan compared to the simulation runs under the pre-optimized timing plan, obtained through the macroscopic signal optimization tools. External traffic movements, left-turn percentage, and ActF are the explanatory variables in the model. Results reveal that the ActF is the only significant variable with the optimal value of 1.15 that is applicable for a wide range of traffic volumes.