Signal Timing Parameters Estimation for Intersections using Floating Car Data

Abstract

Signal phase and timing (SPaT) information is critical for many in-vehicle applications. However, it is challenging and time-consuming to acquire city-wide SPaT information from local traffic management agencies directly. A significant limitation of existing SPaT information estimation methods in the literature is that they can only be applied to a specified time-of-day (TOD) period. In the real-world, however, different TOD timing plans are used to accommodate fluctuations in traffic demands. In this paper, we propose a novel method for traffic light parameter estimation based on floating car data, which features recognizing TOD breakpoints and can thus be applied to intersections with multi-TOD timing plans. Also, good estimation of TOD breakpoints leads to more data availability for estimation of other parameters. The proposed method is tested with real-world data collected from the DiDi on-line hailing platform in China. The filed test results show promising accuracy. The absolute error of green duration is within 3 s in daytime and the estimation error of TOD breakpoints is within 15 min.