A Simulation-based Approach to Evaluate Safety Impacts of Increased Traffic Signal Density

A Simulation-based Approach to Evaluate Safety Impacts of Increased Traffic Signal Density
Author: Kenneth P. Drummond
Publisher:
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2002
Genre: Roads
ISBN:

One of the most controversial access management techniques practitioners face is also one of the most common: restricting signal density. Increased signal density can improve access for minor approaches to a corridor; however, it can also increase delays and rear-end crashes for vehicles on the mainline (major) approach. An ability to evaluate the impacts of increased signal spacing is thus critical for decision makers. Because crash data are not always easy to obtain, a logical question arises: Can simulation models be used to evaluate the safety impacts of increased traffic signal density? This report describes a method for using simulation models to evaluate the safety impacts of increased traffic signal density in suburban corridors. Using 10 years of data from two major arterials in Virginia, actual crash rates were compared with operational performance measures simulated by the Synchro/SimTraffic model. As expected, crash rates were positively correlated with stops per vehicle and delay per vehicle and negatively correlated with mainline speed. Three findings were significant. First, the correlation between crash rates and select mainline performance measures (delay, speed, and stops) was relatively strong despite the inherent variability in crash rates: R2, a measure of explained variance in crash rates, yielded values from 0.54 to 0.89. Second, three distinct regimes relate stops per vehicle to signal density: the installation of the first few signals causes a drastic increase in stops, the addition of the next set of signals causes a moderate increase in stops, and the addition of a third set of signals does not significantly affect the number of stops per vehicle. Third, multiple regime models also relate delay per vehicle to signal density. This study recommends two practical applications. To the extent these mainline performance measures correlate with crashes, simulation modeling may be used to estimate safety impacts of increased signals, which is appealing because simulation packages are becoming easier to apply. Further, three regime models can suggest when, in the timeline of corridor development, the addition of a traffic signal is likely to degrade corridor performance significantly versus when it will have little effect, thereby allowing decision makers to expend political capital when it is most beneficial (e.g., the occasions when there is significant degradation of corridor performance). Most important, the approach herein suggests a long-range corridor-planning tool for evaluating the impacts of different access densities.

Traffic Signal Retiming Practices in the United States

Traffic Signal Retiming Practices in the United States
Author: Robert L. Gordon
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Total Pages: 92
Release: 2010
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309143179

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 409: Traffic Signal Retiming Practices in the United States explores practices that operating agencies currently use to revise traffic signal timing. The report examines the processes used to develop, install, verify, fine-tune, and evaluate the plans--

Speed Management

Speed Management
Author: European Conference of Ministers of Transport
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2006
Genre:
ISBN:

This Report addresses the key issues surrounding traffic speed management and highlights the improvements in policy and operations needed to reduce the extent of speeding.

Traffic Engineering Handbook

Traffic Engineering Handbook
Author: ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers)
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 688
Release: 2016-01-13
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1118762282

Get a complete look into modern traffic engineering solutions Traffic Engineering Handbook, Seventh Edition is a newly revised text that builds upon the reputation as the go-to source of essential traffic engineering solutions that this book has maintained for the past 70 years. The updated content reflects changes in key industry standards, and shines a spotlight on the needs of all users, the design of context-sensitive roadways, and the development of more sustainable transportation solutions. Additionally, this resource features a new organizational structure that promotes a more functionally-driven, multimodal approach to planning, designing, and implementing transportation solutions. A branch of civil engineering, traffic engineering concerns the safe and efficient movement of people and goods along roadways. Traffic flow, road geometry, sidewalks, crosswalks, cycle facilities, shared lane markings, traffic signs, traffic lights, and moreā€”all of these elements must be considered when designing public and private sector transportation solutions. Explore the fundamental concepts of traffic engineering as they relate to operation, design, and management Access updated content that reflects changes in key industry-leading resources, such as the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), AASSHTO Policy on Geometric Design, Highway Safety Manual (HSM), and Americans with Disabilities Act Understand the current state of the traffic engineering field Leverage revised information that homes in on the key topics most relevant to traffic engineering in today's world, such as context-sensitive roadways and sustainable transportation solutions Traffic Engineering Handbook, Seventh Edition is an essential text for public and private sector transportation practitioners, transportation decision makers, public officials, and even upper-level undergraduate and graduate students who are studying transportation engineering.

Traffic Flow Dynamics

Traffic Flow Dynamics
Author: Martin Treiber
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2012-10-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642324592

This textbook provides a comprehensive and instructive coverage of vehicular traffic flow dynamics and modeling. It makes this fascinating interdisciplinary topic, which to date was only documented in parts by specialized monographs, accessible to a broad readership. Numerous figures and problems with solutions help the reader to quickly understand and practice the presented concepts. This book is targeted at students of physics and traffic engineering and, more generally, also at students and professionals in computer science, mathematics, and interdisciplinary topics. It also offers material for project work in programming and simulation at college and university level. The main part, after presenting different categories of traffic data, is devoted to a mathematical description of the dynamics of traffic flow, covering macroscopic models which describe traffic in terms of density, as well as microscopic many-particle models in which each particle corresponds to a vehicle and its driver. Focus chapters on traffic instabilities and model calibration/validation present these topics in a novel and systematic way. Finally, the theoretical framework is shown at work in selected applications such as traffic-state and travel-time estimation, intelligent transportation systems, traffic operations management, and a detailed physics-based model for fuel consumption and emissions.