Transportation -I

Lecture 3

By
Engr. Muhammad Waseem
Lecturer Department of Civil Engineering
UET, Jalozai

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 Traffic Signals
➢ A traffic signal is advice which is normally electrically or
mechanically operated so that traffic alternatively directed to stop
and permitted.

➢ It consist of:

➢ A signal head and control mechanism

➢ Control mechanism may be:

1. Local control mechanism

2. Central control mechanism

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 Traffic Signals Types (MUTCD)
➢ Traffic control signals (most common)
➢ Pedestrian signals (WALK, DON’T WALK, UPRAISED HAND)
➢ Emergency vehicle traffic control signals
➢ Traffic control signals for one-lane, two-way facilities
➢ Traffic control signals for freeway entrance ramps
➢ Traffic control signals for moveable bridges
➢ Lane-use control signals (reversible lanes on bridges or tunnels or
streets/highways)
➢ Flashing beacons (Hazard or critical control device)
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 Advantages of Traffic Signals
➢ Orderly movement of traffic

➢ Reduces certain types of crashes

➢ Interrupts heavy flows for minor movements

➢ Promotes driver confidence

➢ Provides gap for minor movements

➢ Capacity of intersection movement is increased

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 Advantages of Traffic Signals
➢ Traffic signals, when properly installed and operated at
appropriate locations, provide a number of significant benefits

❑ With appropriate physical designs, control measures, and signal

timing, the capacity of critical intersection movements is
increased.

❑ The frequency and severity of accidents is reduced for certain

types of crashes, including right-angle, turn, and pedestrian
accidents.

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 Advantages of Traffic Signals
❑ When properly coordinated, signals can provide for nearly
continuous movement of through traffic along an arterial at a
designated speed under favorable traffic conditions.

❑ They provide for interruptions in heavy traffic streams to permit

crossing vehicular and pedestrian traffic to safely cross.

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 Disadvantages of Traffic Signals
➢ At the same time, misapplied or poorly designed signals can
cause:

➢ Excessive delay

➢ Signal violations

➢ Increased accidents (particularly rear-end accidents)

➢ Drivers rerouting their trips to less appropriate routes

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 Signal Indications
➢ Green ball.
➢ A steady green circular indication allows vehicular traffic facing the
ball to enter the intersection to travel straight through the intersection or
to turn right or left.
➢ Yellow ball.
➢ The steady yellow circular indication is a transition between the Green
Ball and the Red Ball indication.
➢ It warns drivers that the related green movement is being terminated or
that a red indication will immediately follow. In general, drivers are
permitted to enter the intersection on “yellow,” but are prohibited from
doing so on the “red” that follows it.

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 Signal Indications
➢ Red ball

➢ The steady red circular indication requires all traffic (vehicular

and pedestrian) facing it to stop at the STOP line

➢ Flashing ball

➢ A flashing “yellow” allows traffic to proceed with caution through

the intersection.

➢ A flashing “red” has the same meaning as a STOP sign-the driver

may proceed with caution after coming to a complete stop.

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 Signal Operation
➢ Continuous operation of traffic control signals is critical for safety.

➢ No signal face should ever be “dark” (i.e. with no lens

illuminated).

➢ In cases where signalization is not deemed necessary at night,

signals must be operated in the flashing mode (“yellow” for one
street and “red” for the other).

➢ Signal operations must also be designed to allow flashing

operation to be maintained even when the signal controller is
undergoing maintenance or replacement.
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 Traffic Signal Controllers
➢ Individual traffic controllers may operate in the pretimed or
actuated mode.

➢ In pretimed operation, the sequence and timing of every signal

indication is preset and is repeated in each signal cycle.

➢ In actuated operation, the sequence and timing of some or all of

the green indications may change on a cycle-by-cycle basis in
response to detected vehicular and pedestrian demand.

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 Traffic Signal Controllers
➢ Pretimed Operation:
➢ In pretimed operation, the cycle length, phase sequence, and
timing of each interval are constant.
➢ Each cycle of the signal follows the same predetermined plan.

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 Traffic Signal Controllers
➢ Semi-Actuated Operation:
➢ In semi-actuated operation, detectors are placed on the minor
approach(es) to the intersection; No detectors on the major
street.
➢ Used at intersections where one of the streets carries low traffic
volume
➢ The light is green for the major street at all times except when
a “call” or actuation is noted on one of the minor approaches.

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 Traffic Signal Controllers
➢ Fully-Actuated Operation:
➢ In fully actuated operation, every lane of every approach must
be monitored by a detector.
➢ Fully-actuated signals are used at intersections where both the
streets are busy.
➢ Green time is allocated in accordance with information from
detectors and programmed “rules” established in the controller
for capturing and retaining the green.
➢ In full actuated operation, the cycle length, sequence of phases,
and green time split may vary from cycle to cycle.
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 Traffic Signal Design Terminology
➢ Phase

➢ Cycle

➢ Cycle Time

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 Two Phases Signal
➢ Adopted if through traffic is significant compared to the turning
movements. Intersection is operated with two green intervals

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 Four Phases Signal
➢ Flow from each approach is put into a single phase avoiding all
conflicts.

➢ Ideally suited in urban areas where the turning movements are

comparable with through movements and when through traffic and
turning traffic need to share same lane

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 Traffic Signal Design Terminology
➢ Cycle

➢ A signal cycle is one complete rotation through all of the

indications provided.

➢ Every legal vehicular movement receives a “green” indication

during each cycle, although there are some exceptions to this
Green, G Yellow Red
rule

➢ Cycle Length (C) Cycle, C

➢ Total time to complete one full cycle of indications. Indicated

by “C”
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 Traffic Signal Design Terminology
❑ Interval
❑ The interval is a period of time during which no signal indication
changes.
❑ There are several types of intervals within a signal cycle:

➢ Green Interval/Time (Gi)

➢ The duration of the green indication of a given movement at a
signalized intersection

➢ Red Interval/Time (Ri)

➢ The period in the signal cycle during which, for a given phase or lane
group, the signal is red

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 Traffic Signal Design Terminology
➢ Change Interval (y)
➢ Yellow time
➢ Part of transition from “green” to “red”
➢ The period in the signal cycle during which, for a given phase or lane group,
the signal is yellow
➢ movements about to lose “green” are given a “yellow” signal, while all
other movements have a “red” signal.
➢ It is timed to allow a vehicle that cannot safely stop when the “green” is
withdrawn to enter the intersection legally.
➢ Clearance Interval (ar)
➢ All red time
➢ Part of transition from “green” to “red”
➢ The period in the signal cycle during which all approaches have a red
indication
➢ During the clearance interval, all movements have a “red” signal.
➢ It is timed to allow a vehicle that legally enters the intersection on “yellow”
to safely cross the intersection before conflicting flows are released.

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 Traffic Signal Design Terminology
➢ Phase

➢ A signal phase consists of a green interval, plus the change and

clearance intervals that follow it. It is set of intervals that allows
designated movement or set of movements to flow and safely
halted before release of a conflicting set of movements.
Phase 1 Phase 2

EW Street

NS Street

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 Traffic Signal Design Terminology
➢ Start-up Lost Time (l1)

➢ Time used by the first few vehicles in a queue while reacting to

the initiation of the green phase and accelerating.
2 seconds is typical.

➢ Clearance Lost Time (l2)

➢ Clearance lost time is defined as the time interval between the

last vehicle’s front wheels crossing the stop line, and the initiation
of the GREEN for the next phase

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 Traffic Signal Design Terminology
➢ Total Lost Time (tLi)

➢ If the start-up lost time occurs each time a queue starts to move
and the clearance lost time occurs each time the flow of
vehicles stops, then for each GREEN phase:

➢Time when an intersection is not effectively used by any

approach

➢total lost time per phase, s/phase = tLi = l1 + l2

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 Traffic Signal Design Terminology
➢ Effective Green Time (g)
➢ Time actually available for movement
➢ For any given set of movements, effective green time is the amount of time
that vehicles are moving (at a rate of one vehicle every h seconds).

➢ 𝑔𝑖 = 𝐺𝑖 + 𝑌𝑖 − 𝑡𝐿𝑖
Where
g i = Effective green time for movment(s) i, (Seconds)
Gi = Actual green time for movment(s) i, (Seconds)
Yi = Sum of yellow and all red intervals for movment(s) i, (Seconds)
t Li = Total lost time for movment(s) i, (Seconds)

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Traffic Signal Design Terminology
Flow
rate

Saturation Flow Rate

Start-up Extension of
lost time t1 green time

Time

Effective Green Effective Red

 Traffic Signal Design Terminology
➢ Critical Lane
➢ The “critical-lane” concept involves the identification of specific lane
movements that will control the timing of a given signal phase.
➢ During any green signal phase, several lanes on one or more approaches are
permitted to move.
➢ One of these will have the most intense traffic. Thus it requires more time than
any other lane moving at the same time.
➢ If sufficient time is allocated for this lane, then all other lanes will also be well
accommodated.
➢ There will be one and only one critical lane in each signal phase.
➢ The volume of this critical lane is called critical lane volume
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Signal Timings and Design
Two Phase Signal

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Key Steps In Signal Timings And Design
1. Development of a safe and effective phase plan and sequence

2. Determination of vehicular signal needs:

a. Timing of “yellow” (change) and “all-red’’ (clearance) intervals

for each signal phase

b.Determination of the sum of critical lane volumes

c. Determination of lost times per phase and per cycle

d.Determination of an appropriate cycle length

e. Allocation of effective green time to the various phases defined

in the phase plan often referred to as “splitting” the green

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 Signal Timing and Design Example
➢ Consider the intersection of two streets with one lane in each direction and relatively low
turning volumes. Considering the following conditions Design the signalized intersection
having moderate pedestrian activity

➢ PHF = 0.92

➢ Target V/c = 0.90

➢ All lanes = 15 ft

➢ Avg. Speed = 30 mph

➢ Level grades

➢ Crosswalks = 10 ft

➢ Driver reaction time = 1.0 s

➢ Deceleration rate = 10 ft/s-sqr

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Signal Timing and Design Example

10
5
400
8
12
420 315
12
10
375

6 10

30
Signal Timing and Design Example

454

470 397

433

Phase Plan Considered: 2 Phase Signal

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 Signal Timing and Design Example
➢ Determine Yellow Interval
1.47S 85
y=t+
2a + (64.4  0.01G )
➢ y = length of the yellow interval, sec
➢ t = driver reaction time, sec
➢ S(85) = 85th percentile speed of approaching vehicles, or speed
limit, as appropriate, mi/h
➢ a = deceleration rate of vehicles, ft/s2
➢ G= grade of approach, %
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 Signal Timing and Design Example
➢ Determine Yellow Interval

S 85 = 30 + 5 = 35mph The average approach speed

for all approaches
is 30 mi/h. Thus, the
S15 = 30 − 5 = 25mph S85, = 30 + 5 = 35 mi/h,
and the S15 = 30 - 5 = 25 mi/h

1.47S 85
y=t+
2a + (64.4  0.01G )
1.47  35
y = 1.0 + = 3.6 s
2(10) + (64.4  0.01 0)
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 Signal Timing and Design Example
➢ Length of all-red clearance intervals
➢ No pedestrian traffic

➢ Significant pedestrian traffic

➢ Some pedestrian traffic

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 Signal Timing and Design Example
➢ ar = length of the all-red phase, sec

➢ w = distance from the departure STOP line to the far side of the
farthest conflicting traffic lane, ft

➢ P = distance from the departure STOP line to the far side of the
farthest conflicting crosswalk, ft

➢ L = length of a standard vehicle, usually taken to be 18-20 ft

➢ S (I5) = 15th percentile speed of approaching traffic, or speed

limit, as appropriate, mi/h

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Signal Timing and Design Example
Length of all-red clearance intervals

𝑺𝟖𝟓 = 𝟑𝟎 + 𝟓 = 𝟑𝟓𝒎𝒑𝒉
𝑺𝟏𝟓 = 𝟑𝟎 − 𝟓 = 𝟐𝟓𝒎𝒑𝒉

𝒘+𝑳 𝟑𝟎 + 𝟐𝟎
𝒂𝒓 = =
𝟏. 𝟒𝟕𝑺𝟏𝟓 𝟏. 𝟒𝟕 × 𝟐𝟓
= 𝟏. 𝟑𝟔 𝒔𝒆𝒄 ✓.
𝑷 𝟒𝟎
𝒂𝒓 = = = 𝟏. 𝟎𝟗
𝟏. 𝟒𝟕𝑺𝟏𝟓 𝟏. 𝟒𝟕 × 𝟐𝟓

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 Signal Timing and Phasing
➢ Determine Critical Lane Volumes

Ring 1 Ring 2
470 397
470 or 397
A VcA = 470tvu / h
454 433

B 454 or 433
VcB = 454tvu / h

Vc = 470 + 454 = 924tvu / h

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 Signal Timing and Design Example
➢ Determination of Lost Time:
Y = y + ar = 3.6 + 1.36 = 4.96s
l 2 = Y − e = 4.96 − 2.0 = 2.96s
t L = l1 + l 2 = 2.0 + 2.96 = 4.96s
Total Lost time per cycle = L = 4.96 + 4.96 = 9.92s

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Signal Timing and Design Example
Determination of Cycle Length

L
Cdes =
 
1−  
v c
 1,615  PHF  v 
 c
9.92
Cdes = = 32.1s  35 s
 924 
1−  
 1,615  0.92  0.9 

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Signal Timing and Design Example

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Signal Timing and Design Example

EffectiveGreen Time Available = 35 − 9.92 = 25.08s

 VCA   470 
g A = g TOT    = 25.08  
  = 12.76s
 VC   924 

 VCB 
 = 25.08  
454 
g B = g TOT     = 12.32s
 VC   924 
Check
12.76 + 12.32 + 9.92 = 35.0s (Cycle Length)
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 Final Signal Timings

3.6sec
1.36sec
Phase 1

EW Street 12.76sec

NS Street 12.32sec

Phase 2

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 Assignment 02
Consider the intersection of two streets with
two lane in each direction and relatively low
turning volumes. Considering the following
conditions Design the signalized intersection
having moderate pedestrian activity
PHF = 0.92
Target V/c = 0.90
All lanes = 20 ft 544

Avg. Speed = 35 mph 621 510

Level grades
432
Crosswalks = 10 ft
Driver reaction time = 2.0 s
Deceleration rate = 10 ft/s-sqr

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