Evaluation and Design of Maximum Green Time Settings for Traffic-Actuated Control

Abstract

A study is described that was conducted to develop an improved average green time estimation model for traffic-actuated control and to suggest a maximum green time design method that analytically minimizes intersection control delay. Improvements in the green time estimation model include revisions in the concept of additional queue service time, explicit treatment of right turns in lane groups containing both through and right-turning vehicles, and other improvements that include updates based on recent studies and modifications in the approaches taken for the modeling procedure. The proposed maximum green time design procedure consists of four components: (a) estimation of the average green time of a traffic-actuated phase, (b) performance evaluation of the system through the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) procedure, (c) formulation of an overall average control delay minimization problem, and (d) a search process to find the most efficient set of maximum green time parameters that minimize the average control delay at an intersection. Using simulation as a surrogate for field data collection, it was demonstrated that the proposed average green time estimation models offer better results than the one in the 2000 HCM. In addition, it was suggested that on the basis of the improvements demonstrated in terms of design, the proposed maximum green parameter design procedure represents an advancement of the methodology for analysis of signalized intersections.

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