Studying the Effect of Coordination on the Drivers Behavior during Signal Change Intervals at a Typical Intersection in Tokyo, Japan ~ Detailed Methodology and Hypotheses

Abstract

The traffic flow at approaches to signalized intersections is determined by a multitude of factors. This results in randomness in the parameters that have to be estimated in order to calculate the signal change intervals. If factors influencing the distribution of these parameters can be identified, less safety margins may be feasible. In this way the approach capacity may be increased without compromising safety at the intersection. In this research, it is considered that the coordination of signals is a determining factor to set the signal change intervals. Thus, this research is an effort to study the effect of signal coordination and the arrival patterns generated from it on the driver’s behavior at the onset of yellow indication. It is hypothesized in this research that the vehicles generally require different signal change intervals in case of coordinated approaches compared to if the approaches were un-coordinated. Field surveys will be conducted in order to study the driver’s behavior under different conditions of coordination. After completing the extraction of data, analysis will be performed on various driver behavior parameters deemed essential for this study in order to establish the difference in the behavior of drivers for the two different cases of coordination and arrival patterns that were under observation. It is expected that the research results will lead to a potential to improve the signal coordination strategies and to achieve safe and efficient design for signal change intervals.