Demonstrative comparison of two traffic signal optimization programs: Synchro-6 and PASSER II

Abstract

To effectively examine and properly response to the traffic congestion on the urban arterial, numerous traffic signal timing optimization programs have been introduced such as Synchro-6 and PASSER II-02. This study is aimed to provide the better insight into the basic difference between these two programs to traffic engineers or transportation practitioners by demonstratively comparing vehicle delay and bandwidth efficiency computed by two programs on the hypothetical arterial having five calibrated intersections spaced by 430-meter each other with varying traffic volume. This study concluded that difference in vehicle delay and bandwidth efficiency results from the characteristic of each program to optimize the traffic signal timing plan and to calculat ethe uniform delay, not from the used parameters (traffic volume). Further studies are requested to present more comprehensive characteristics of two programs to the traffic engineering group by comparing and evaluating them with the other factors that a ffect vehicle delay and bandwidth efficiency, such as intersection spacing, vehicle speeds, intersection capacity, and so on.