Abstract
Intersections are bottleneck in the highway networks and critical determinant of system's capacity and safety. Recently, several countdown timers had been installed at intersections in Kuala Lumpur and some other cities in Malaysia. The function of these timers is to aid drivers to judge the amount of time left for them to get the green signal for moving (starting) their vehicles as well as the amount of green time available for them to proceed across the intersection or to stop safely before the signal turns red. This advance information is supposed to help drivers in reducing their initial delay, especially for the first few vehicles and improving safety level. In the present research six intersections, three with count down timers and three with no-count down timer are analyzed to study the effect of count down timer on driver behavior, intersection approach headway and safety levels. The study suggests that countdown timer has got little effect on initial delay but the effect on headway is significant. The violation of traffic light by the drivers for countdown and normal signal is also compared.
Highlights
Intersections in the urban highway network have a significant effect on the operation and performance of the traffic system
Basic capacity for signalised intersections is defined in terms of the saturation flow rate, i.e., the capacity of the lane or approach assuming that the signal is green at all times
The timer aid drivers to judge the amount of time left for them to get the green signal for moving their vehicles
Summary
Intersections in the urban highway network have a significant effect on the operation and performance of the traffic system. At the signalized intersection different directions of flow share the same road space and flow is segregated in terms of time. Basic capacity for signalised intersections is defined in terms of the saturation flow rate, i.e., the capacity of the lane or approach assuming that the signal is green at all times. The saturation flow rate at signalised intersections under ideal conditions is 1900 passenger cars per hour of green per lane (pcphgpl) according to Highway Capacity Manual[1]. The function of these timers is to help drivers to judge the amount of time left for them to get the green signal for starting (moving) their vehicles. No in-depth study on its suitability in the local road and traffic environment has been done
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