Global Practices on Road Traffic Signal Control: Fixed-Time Control at Isolated Intersections

France

1

Introduction

Keshuang Tang¹, Zong Tian², Manfred Boltze³ and Hideki Nakamura⁴,    ¹College of Transportation Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, P.R. China,    ²Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, United States,    ³Institute for Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany,    ⁴Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

Abstract

This chapter briefly introduces the motivation, scope, purpose, and structure of this book. Section 1.1 outlines the motivation for editing this book and for choosing road traffic signal control as the topic. Section 1.2 introduces the scope of the book, that is, fixed-time control at isolated intersections. Section 1.3 explains potential applications and audiences of the book. Section 1.4 highlights the book structure as well as major contents of each chapter of the book, together with the author information. Finally, Section 1.5 gives some explanations on national differences in notations and terminology.

Keywords

Motivation; scope; purpose; structure; highlight

1.1 Motivation

Road traffic signals are a most important instrument of traffic management and operations. The design of signalized intersections and signal programs has a serious impact on capacity, traffic safety, economic efficiency, and environmental compatibility. Statistics indicate that approximately 40% of total traffic accidents, approximately 80% of vehicle delays on urban roads, and approximately 20% of vehicle emissions occur at signalized intersections (WHO, 2016; FHWA, 2016; Kan et al., 2018).

In all countries, road traffic signals are used to control traffic. Many countries have developed comprehensive experience and knowledge in how to design signalized intersections and signal programs. Based on that, several national guidelines (TRB, 2010; FHWA, 2008; UK DOT, 2006; FGSV, 2015; JSTE, 2006; AUSTROADS, 2003), reports, and papers have been published, dealing with signal timing procedures, methods, and optimization models for a specific country, region, or situation. However, there is no international standard on road traffic signal control. While significant differences between countries exist, international harmonization and learning from each other is difficult, so far, because of the different languages and limited accessibility of national regulations for road traffic signal control.

To contribute to the international exchange of knowledge, this book summarizes the practice in road traffic signal control in several countries and regions around the globe. Individual reports are authored by outstanding national experts from 16 countries, providing a comprehensive overview and comparison of international practice on road traffic signal control. Based on that, the book allows an in-depth study and comparison of global practices. Strengths and weaknesses of specific regulations can be identified, and results may be used for the improvement and international harmonization of road traffic signal control.

1.2 Scope

This book particularly addresses the background, history, state-of-the-art practice, and working examples for fixed-time control at isolated intersections in 16 selected countries. The selected countries include the United States of America, Canada, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In addition, common principles of road traffic signal control, international comparisons, and in-depth discussions on the differences across the selected countries, as well as helpful suggestions from a global perspective, are also provided in the book. Relevant knowledge on software, standards, legislation, equipment suppliers, and maintenance requirements for road traffic signal control are covered to some extent, without too much emphasis.

1.3 Purpose

This book can act as a fundamental reference book on international practice of road traffic signal control for international researchers and practitioners, with a focus on fixed-time control at isolated intersections. It is neither a summary of findings previously published in literature, nor a handbook or guideline. Potential applications of the book are explained below.

• To provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art practices of road traffic signal control in various countries and regions.

• To gain deep understandings of the reasons, underlying background and special considerations for existing differences among the selected countries and regions.

• To provide a global summary of useful practical experiences for fixed-time control at isolated intersections.

• To help the proper selection of signal timing procedures, methods, and parameters for fixed-time signal control.

• To offer helpful suggestions on common principles and improvement countermeasures of road traffic signal control from a global perspective.

Potential audiences of the book include practicing engineers, academic staff and students, hardware and software engineers in signal control manufactures, and maintenance service providers of signal control.

1.4 Book structure

This book consists of 15 chapters in total. This chapter highlights the motivation, scope, purpose, and structure of the book. Chapter 2, Principles of road traffic signal control, addresses major principles of road traffic signal control, which are independent from specific geographical areas, and it provides definitions for basic terms in traffic signal control. Chapters 3–14 are country-specific or region-specific chapters, in which the state-of-the-art practice on fixed-time control at isolated intersections in 16 countries are introduced and discussed. Items include background, history, control strategies, signal timing procedures and methods, signal phasing, critical parameters, special considerations, examples, and state-of-the-art implementations. The sequence of the country-specific chapters is arranged based on geographical areas, that is, America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia, respectively. Chapter 15, Summary, summarizes worldwide successful experiences and common knowledge, and it provides suggestions for the improvement of road traffic signal control. The titles and authors of each chapter are listed in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1

Note that * indicates corresponding authors of the chapters.

1.5 Notation and terminology

As mentioned above, there is no international standard on road traffic signal control, so far. For different countries and regions, individual standards and guidelines have been developed in different languages, each of them using their own terms, definitions, and symbols. In some cases, terms used in one language may not even exist in another language, because the method of signal programing is different.

With Chapter 2, Principles of road traffic signal control, this book aims to contribute to the harmonization of terms used in traffic signal control. The following individual chapters have been written taking this as a basis. However, to ensure the correct representation of practices in road traffic signal control in each case, different notations and differences in terminology could not be fully eliminated.

Bibliography

1. Australasian Road Transport and Traffic Agencies (AUSTROADS). Guide to Traffic Engineering Practice Series: Traffic Signals, Australia AUSTROADS 2003.

2. Department of Transport, the United Kingdom (UK DOT). Traffic Advisory Leaflet: General Principles of Traffic Control by Light Signals, the United Kingdoms UK DOT 2006.

3. Federal Highway Administration, US Department of Transportation (FHWA). Traffic Signal Timing Manual FHWA 2008.

4. Federal Highway Administration, US Department of Transportation (FHWA). 2015 Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions & Performance FHWA 2016.

5. FGSV. Richtlinien für Lichtsignalanlagen—RiLSA (German Standard for Traffic Signals) Cologne: FGSV-Verlag; 2015; Edition 2015 (in German).

6. Japan Society of Traffic Engineers (JSTE). Manual on Traffic Signal Control JSTE 2006; Revised Edition (in Japanese).

7. Kan Z, Tang L, Kwan M, et al. Estimating vehicle fuel consumption and emissions using GPS big data. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(4):566.

8. Transportation Research Board (TRB). Highway Capacity Manual 2010 TRB 2010.

9. World Health Organization (WHO). Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015 WHO 2016.

2

Principles of road traffic signal control

Manfred Boltze¹, Hideki Nakamura² and Zong Tian³,    ¹Institute for Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany,    ²Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan,    ³Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, United States

Abstract

This chapter elaborates on the major principles of road traffic signal control which do not depend on national regulations. In the first part, the basic functionality of traffic signals is explained, including areas of application, signals and signal heads, signal program elements, and traffic signal control methods. Thereby, major terms used in the context of traffic signal control are explained. The second part summarizes the various impacts which traffic signals have on different road-user groups, and gives advice on a multicriteria and multimodal impact assessment. Section 2.3 briefly explains how to utilize traffic signals for a situation-responsive prioritization of public transport vehicles, for situations with critical air pollution levels, and for situations with special demand for noise protection. Finally, the fourth section introduces the concept of quality management for traffic signals and presents some basic principles of such quality management for the stages of planning, implementation, and operation.

Keywords

Road traffic signals; terminology; basic definitions; impact assessment

2.1 Basic functionality of traffic signals

2.1.1 Areas of application

Road traffic signals are used to control traffic and to avoid conflicts between road users which are using the same road space (conflict area), for example at intersections or crossings. For that purpose, traffic signals are indicating specific traffic streams of road users the permission to pass a marked (or virtual) stop line or to stop and wait. Instructions conveyed by traffic signals shall take precedence over those conveyed by road signs regulating priority. [United Nations, 1968, § 5 (1)].

Traffic signals are used to control traffic at road intersections or at pedestrian crossings. There are several specific implementation areas for traffic signals, such as traffic control at bottlenecks (e.g., at road construction sites), safeguarding of railway crossings, ramp metering at highway entrances, or at the exit of emergency service stations. Traffic signals are also used for lane signalization (which is not covered in this book).

Traffic signals can also be used to prioritize specific road-user groups, to meter the traffic entering an area or road section, and to harmonize traffic flow by coordination of traffic signals in an arterial.

Traffic signals are a very important instrument to manage traffic. They are installed to improve traffic safety, traffic flow, environmental conditions, or economic efficiency of traffic operations.

2.1.2 Signal heads and signal indications

A GREEN light is a positive signal authorizing vehicles to proceed.

A RED light is a negative signal indicating that road users are not allowed to proceed; they must stop and wait at the stop line.

A YELLOW light (also called an amber light) gives road users notice that the RED light will be signaled soon. It indicates that road users have either to stop at the stop line before the RED light appears, or they have to pass and clear the conflict area as soon as possible. However they decide, drivers are not allowed to pass the stop line under a RED light.

Simultaneous RED and YELLOW lights may be used to inform road users that the GREEN light will appear soon. The purpose of this signal is to avoid start-up loss time at the beginning of GREEN.

Signal heads for motorized road traffic usually have three fields (RED, YELLOW, GREEN) which may be arranged vertically (RED on top) or horizontally (RED on the right or on the left, depending on the driving side). In some special cases, also signal heads with two fields or only one field can be applied. As the signals may address only specific traffic streams, the signal lights may show symbols for the respective road-user group (e.g., pedestrians or cyclists) or for the respective driving direction (e.g., left-turn arrow).

Depending on national regulations, the position of signal heads may be on the near side or the far side of the intersection approach. In any case, the visibility of signal heads must be ensured, and all road users must be clearly aware which signals are relevant for them.

The size of signal heads must allow for clear visibility and recognition by road users. Commonly, the diameter of each signal head is about 200 mm (e.g., in Germany) or 300 mm (e.g., in the United States and China). In approaches with higher speed, on interurban roads or in other cases with a higher need of perceptibility, also a larger diameter is used (e.g., 450 mm on expressways in Japan). The technical design of the signal heads must avoid reduced perceptibility by backlight or phantom light which may be caused by sunlight. Hoods and contrast shields may help to increase perceptibility.

Even if there is only one lane, the number of signal heads installed on every intersection approach should be at least two. More signal heads may be useful if there are additional lanes, and they are necessary if there is separated control of traffic streams on that approach.

Signal groups may be formed if the same signal is always shown to all streams in that signal group (group-based control). For example, there may be one signal group for all streams of one approach (approach-based control). In North America’s ring-barrier-based phasing structure, a signal group is equivalent to a signal phase.

In many countries, additional special signals are used, such as flashing GREEN, flashing YELLOW, flashing RED, special signals for pedestrians or for public transport vehicles, and countdown signals. These are mentioned in the following chapters on national traffic signal control regulations.

2.1.3 Signal timing parameters

Signal programs (usually called signal plans in North America) determine the signalization of all traffic streams at an intersection or crossing over time. A signal program for a schematic four-leg intersection is shown in Fig. 2.1.

Figure 2.1 Traffic signal control terms (explained for a schematic four-leg intersection).

The GREEN time should allow all vehicles to depart which arrive in the respective traffic stream within one cycle. Therefore, the GREEN time depends on the cycle time, on any lost times (e.g., intergreen, start-up lost time) and on the saturation flow rate, which describes the number of vehicles which can theoretically pass the stop line within 1 hour of continuous GREEN time. A minimum GREEN time needs to be defined (e.g., 5 s), and a maximum GREEN time is usually indirectly defined by the maximum cycle time and minimum GREEN time for other stages.

The YELLOW time must correspond with driving dynamics (vehicle speed and braking performance), since, after beginning of YELLOW, drivers need to decide either to stop safely in front of the stop line or to proceed and pass the stop line before the beginning of RED. Usually, the YELLOW time is set to a value between 3 s and 5 s, depending on the speed limit on the approach to the traffic signal. Traffic signals shall not be operated without a defined speed limit which is compatible with the YELLOW time.

The RED time is not explicitly calculated, but it results from the other signal durations. The minimum RED time and maximum RED time can be defined.

The RED and YELLOW time is usually set to 1 or 2 seconds. A too short or missing RED and YELLOW time may lead to start-up loss time at the beginning of GREEN. A too long RED and YELLOW time leads to vehicles starting too early which may cause accidents. In several countries this signal is not used at all.

Usually, the same signalization is repeated in a cycle with a duration defined as cycle time. During one cycle all traffic streams are given GREEN at least once. Too short cycle times may lead to oversaturation and congestion because more stage transitions per hour cause more loss time per hour. In principle, longer cycle times increase capacity. However, too long cycle times unnecessarily increase average delay and may lead to more traffic accidents because of RED light violations (specifically by pedestrians). The long GREEN times which result from a long cycle time may also lead to unused green time and unnecessarily long delays.

Within one cycle, two or more stages (also named phases) can be defined as periods in which GREEN is given to one or more specific traffic streams, while all others have to wait. All streams given GREEN in one stage must be compatible streams (i.e., they do not have a joint conflict area) or they must be at least partly compatible streams. For example, for right-hand traffic, the partly compatible streams are left-turn streams and the opposing straight-through streams, left-turn streams and the opposing right-turn streams which exit in the same direction, left-turn streams and pedestrian streams crossing at the intersection exit, right-turn streams and pedestrian streams crossing at the intersection exit.

The number of stages is at least two. More than two stages can be useful to separate specific traffic streams, for example, left-turn movements. In general, more stages allow a safer traffic operation. However, more stages also increase the number of stage transitions (see below) and the cycle time and reduce the capacity of the intersection.

The stage transition (from one stage to another) must ensure that all road users of the ending stage have cleared the conflict area before any road user of the beginning stage reaches the same conflict area. In this context, the concept of intergreen times or the concept of a ring-barrier structure is applied.

The intergreen time is defined as the time between the end of GREEN for one traffic stream and the beginning of GREEN for another stream which is not compatible with the first stream. The intergreen time must allow the last vehicle of the ending stream to clear the conflict area before the first vehicle of the beginning stream can reach the same conflict area. For signal groups, the intergreen time must fulfill this condition for all possible combinations of individual streams. A sufficient intergreen time is most important for traffic safety. On the other hand, too long intergreen times reduce capacity. The optimal duration of intergreen does not depend on cycle time nor traffic volumes.

The intergreen time consists of a crossing time (time between the end of GREEN and the moment when the last vehicle of the ending stream crosses the stop line) and a clearing time (time the last vehicle needs from the stop line until it has completely cleared the conflict area), and it may be reduced by an entering time (time the first vehicle of the beginning stream needs from the stop line to reach the conflict area). The clearing distance and the entering distance are explained in Fig. 2.2. The necessary intergreen time can be determined for each combination of traffic streams if they have a joint conflict area. In a simplified approach, the intergreen time can be determined only for the critical pair of traffic streams within the two consecutive stages.

Figure 2.2 Clearing distance and entering distance.

Ring-barrier structure is a standard practice in North America. Unlike the European practice in determining intergreen times, the yellow and red clearance intervals are used and calculated for each signal phase (or called signal group under European’s stage-based control scheme), thus they are not variable when the phase sequence is changed. The red clearance interval is required to completely clear the traffic stream(s) served by the phase out of the intersection (e.g., the far side of the crosswalk) before the next conflicting phase starts. Therefore, the sum of yellow and red clearance intervals is generally longer than the intergreen time.

2.1.4 Traffic signal control methods and operating modes

On the macroscopic control level, certain signal programs are selected and activated for a specific time of the day or for a specific situation (e.g., traffic or environment). Widely applied macroscopic control methods are the time-dependent (or time-of-day) signal program selection and the traffic-responsive signal program selection. A more sophisticated alternative is traffic-responsive frame signal program generation.

On the microscopic control level, there are various control modes, which differ in the degree of variability of different control parameters (cycle time, stage number, stage sequence, green times, offset time). In fixed-time control none of these parameters in the signal program is flexible. In actuated control at least one of the parameters in the signal program is actuated according to the current situation (e.g., green time adaptation based on traffic volume detection). The signal program generation allows forming a signal program under full flexibility of all parameters. Usually, this can only be used at isolated (single) intersections.

Besides traffic signal control methods for isolated intersections, there are also methods for groups of traffic signals on an arterial or in an area. Such coordinated traffic signal control aims at optimizing traffic flow by allowing vehicles to pass through a series of intersections with minimal delay and stops. For that purpose, the offset of the signal programs at consecutive intersections must be designed according to vehicle speed and intersection spacing. However, coordinated traffic signal control is not covered in this book.

2.2 Consideration of various impacts on different road-user groups

2.2.1 General remarks

When designing traffic signals, usually, all kinds of traffic modes should be considered: walking, cycling, public transport, and motorized private transport. Furthermore, the freight transport, especially heavy vehicle traffic, requires special examination. Depending on local conditions, further modes may need specific considerations, for example, motorcycles as a predominant mode in the case of Vietnam.

The design of the traffic signal control shall consider the various impacts on the different road-user groups as comprehensively as possible. This includes the principles of barrier-free mobility and sustainability.

In some cases, the advantages regarding a specific impact or road-user group can only be achieved together with disadvantages for other road-user groups. In such cases, a comprehensible consideration shall be done before decision-making. Comprehensibility and transparency are important conditions for the acceptance of decisions by citizens. Therefore, decisions to design traffic signal control need rules for a fair balance of different impacts, for the treatment of goal conflicts, and therefore for the prioritization of different road-user groups.

Due to their general advantages regarding environmental compatibility, walking, cycling, and public transport shall be promoted. However, any absolute priority for one single traffic mode is not appropriate. Instead, in each case, the overall impacts of measures at traffic signals must be considered to avoid inadequate negative impacts on other traffic modes and other relevant parameters.

Planning instruments for traffic signal control shall be developed and applied which allow to determine all major impacts and to reflect them in the course of consideration.

2.2.2 Main goals and relevant criteria

There are four main goals within the framework of traffic management, which are generally relevant for all traffic modes: satisfaction of mobility needs, increase of traffic safety, reduction of environmental pollution, and improvement of economic efficiency (Boltze and Dinter, 1994). Among these goals, due to the number of premature deaths caused by traffic-borne air pollution and by traffic accidents, the prevention of emissions with adverse health effects and the improvement of traffic safety are gaining increased