Abstract
To deal with the conflicts between left-turn and through traffic streams and increase the discharge capacity, this paper addresses the pre-signal which is implemented at a signalized intersection. Such an intersection with pre-signal is termed as a tandem intersection. For the tandem intersection, phase swap sorting strategy is deemed as the most effective phasing scheme in view of some exclusive merits, such as easier compliance of drivers, and shorter sorting area. However, a major limitation of the phase swap sorting strategy is not considered in previous studies: if one or more vehicle is left at the sorting area after the signal light turns to red, the capacity of the approach would be dramatically dropped. Besides, previous signal control studies deal with a fixed timing plan that is not adaptive with the fluctuation of traffic flows. Therefore, to cope with these two gaps, this paper firstly takes an in-depth analysis of the traffic flow operations at the tandem intersection. Secondly, three groups of loop detectors are placed to obtain the real-time vehicle information for adaptive signalization. The lane selection behavior in the sorting area is considered to set the green time for intersection signals. With the objective of minimizing the vehicle delay, the signal control parameters are then optimized based on a dynamic programming method. Finally, numerical experiments show that average vehicle delay and maximum queue length can be reduced under all scenarios.
Highlights
BackgroundIf the traffic volume at one signalized intersection exceeds its capacity, the consequent traffic congestion can significantly increase the vehicle delay, stop rate and fuel consumption of each driving commuter
The major contributions of this study are twofold: (i) An adaptive signal control method is firstly developed for the tandem intersection, which can avoid the capacity drop caused by the delayed vehicles in the sorting area, and adjust the timing parameters according to real-time traffic flow information. (ii) The lane selection behavior within the sorting area is analyzed and a lane selection model is proposed, which are critical in determining the length of the sorting area and the green time of the main signal
In scenario 1 the intersection is in saturated state, the values of average vehicle delay (AVD) and maximum queue length (MQL) under the two plans are close to each other
Summary
BackgroundIf the traffic volume at one signalized intersection exceeds its capacity, the consequent traffic congestion can significantly increase the vehicle delay, stop rate and fuel consumption of each driving commuter. A few strategies to regulate the left-turn vehicles at intersections are proposed, e.g. U turn [1, 2, 3], Hook turn [4, 5, 6], displaced left turn [7], where the main idea is to remove the left-turn phase or reduce the left-turn green time to improve the overall capacity of the intersection. Under such strategies, the left-turn vehicles and conflicts are shifted to the nearby road segments. These strategies have certain special requirements on the geometry of intersections
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