INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING

CENTRAL CAMPUS, PULCHOWK

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING





PRESENTATION ON

EHICLE CTUATED
IGNALS


PRESENTED BY:
RABINDRA POKHREL
(070/MST/266)
March 24,
2014
PRESENTATION OBJECTIVE:
This Presentation is intended to explain:

INTR0B0CTI0N
TYPES 0F ACT0ATEB C0NTR0L
BETECTI0N F0R ACT0ATEB SIuNALIZATI0N
ACT0ATEB C0NTR0L FEAT0RES
( Incluuing Timing Besign)
0PERATINu PRINCIPLE
AREA TRAFFIC C0NTR0L (ATC)
S0NE P0P0LAR ATC SYSTENS
SELECTEB REFERENCE


Number of Slides: 30
2
3
INTRODUCTION:
u
2
4
6
8
1u
12
14
1 2 S 4 S
Fig: Effect of Variable demand
Capacity
Time (Green Phase)
V
e
h
i
c
l
e
s

4
INTRODUCTION: CONTD
Intersectio
n
Controller
Detector
vAS system
oveicomes the effect
of vaiiable uemanu
by
ADJUSTMENTS:
vaiiable phase
sequences.
vaiiable gieen
time foi each
phase.
vaiiable cycle
length, causeu by
vaiiable gieen
times.

OFFSET?
5
vehicleActuateu Signals is a system that actuates
inteisection signalization in one oi moie appioaches in
oiuei of ceitain phases oi tiaffic movements baseu on
viitually instantaneous tiaffic uemanu at the location.
The vehicleActuateu Signal is equippeu with:
Betectois
Contiol Logic
Tiaffic Signals (synchionizeu)
The actuateu system allows the signal to allocate gieen time
baseu on cuiient uemanus anu opeiations. A piopei
cleaiance inteival between the gieen & the ieu phases is also
ensuieu.
INTRODUCTION: CONTD
6
ADVANTAGES:
Auaptable to shoitteim fluctuations.
Reuuce uelay (if piopeily timeu).
Inciease capacity (by ieappoitioning gieen time).
Continuous opeiation unuei low volume conuitions.
Effective at multiple phase inteisections.


DISADVANTAGES:
Installation cost: two to thiee times pietimeu signal.
Nuch moie complicateu incieasing maintenance costs.
If tiaffic uemanu pattein is iegulai minimal extia benefit.
Lack of piopei inspection anu cooiuination leaus auveisity.
INTRODUCTION: CONTD
7
TYPES OF ACTUATED CONTROL:
SEMIACTUATED CONTROL:
At majoi stieet (ielatively unifoim flow) is ciosseu by minoi stieet (low
volumes).
Betectois aie placeu only on the minoi stieet.
uieen is on the majoi stieet at all times unless a call on the siue stieet is
noteu.

FULLACTUATED CONTROL
At inteisections of stieets with ielatively equal volumes, anu vaiying
uemanu.
Betectois at all lanes.
Phase sequence, gieen allocations, anu cycle length: subjecteu to vaiiation.
Effective foi both twophase anu multiphase opeiations anu can
accommouate optional phases.

VOLUMEDENSITY CONTROL
At inteisections of majoi tiaffic flows having consiueiable unpieuictable
fluctuations.
Full actuateu contiol + uemanuiesponsive featuies.
VOLUMEDENSITY CONTROL:
DEMANDRESPONSIVE FEATURES:
8
1. vaiiable Initial Timing 2. uap Reuuction Piocess
9
DETECTION FOR ACTUATED SIGNALIZATION:
PASSAGE OR POINT DETECTION (PULSE MODE):
Betectoi installeu at a point. Nost common foim of
uetection.
Relays whethei a vehicle has passeu ovei the uetectoi.
0peiates in pulse moue: vehicle passing thiough the
uetectoi cieates a shoit pulse of u.1u to u.1S seconus.

PRESENCE OR AREA DETECTION:
Betectois in significant length (oi aiea) of an appioach lane.
vehicle entiies anu exits into anu out of the uetection zone
aie iemembeieu. Thus, the numbei of vehicles stoieu in the
uetection zone is known.
Long inuuction loop, oi a seiies of point uetectois.
ueneially useu in conjunction with volumeuensity
contiolleis.
10
DETECTORS:
Inuuctive loop uetectois
Nagnetometei uetectois
Nagnetic uetectois
Piessuiesensitive
uetectois
Rauai uetectois
Sonic uetectois
Nicioloop uetectois etc.
11
ACTUATED CONTROL FEATURES:
MINIMUM GREEN TIME ( ):
Each actuateu phase has minimum gieen time.
Seives as the smallest amount of gieen time: Phase
Initiation.
The minimum gieen timing on an actuateu phase is baseu on
the type anu location of uetectois.

Initial
Inteival
uieen
Cleaiance
(Peu FBW)
vaiiable
uieen
Yellow
Cleaiance
Cycle
Split (A phase)
0ffset
SIGNAL TIMING CONCEPTS
12
13
IN CASE OF POINT DETECTORS:

Wheie,
m|n
= minimum gieen time in seconu
L
= assumeu staitup lost time = 4 sec
= assumeu satuiation heauway = 2 sec
= uistance between uetectoi & stop line in m
= assumeu uistance between stoieu vehicles = 6 m

IN CASE OF AREA DETECTORS:

Wheie,
mtn
= minimum gieen time in seconu
L
= assumeu staitup lost time = 4 sec
= numbei of vehicles stoieu in the uetection aiea
MINIMUM GREEN TIME: CONTD
14
ACTUATED CONTROL FEATURES:
UNIT EXTENSION :
This time actually seives thiee uiffeient puiposes:
It iepiesents the maximum gap between actuations at a single uetectoi
iequiieu to ietain the gieen.
It is the amount of time auueu to the gieen phase when an auuitional
actuation is ieceiveu within the unit extension, 0.
It must be of sufficient length to allow a vehicle to tiavel fiom the
uetectoi to the ST0P line.

The unit extension is selecteu with two ciiteiia in minu:
Long enough: vehicle in uense tiaffic, safe heauway shoulu ietain gieen.
Shoit enough: Stiaggling vehicles may ietain the gieen.

Tiaffic Betectoi Banubook iecommenus:
S.u sec; appioach speeus Su mihi
S.S sec; > Su mihi
Unit extension passage time.
15
ACTUATED CONTROL FEATURES:
MAXIMUM GREEN TIME


By Tiial signal timing; as if the signals weie pietimeu:

Wheie,
|
= Initial cycle length, sec
= Total lost time, sec
C
= Sum of ciitical lane volumes, vehhi

uieen times aie then ueteimineu as:

Wheie,
g
|
= effective gieen time foi Phase i, sec
F
C|
= ciitical lane volume foi Phase i, vehhi

Naximum gieen time = 1.2S oi 1.Su * Effective gieen time

16
By uieenTime Estimation Nouel:
Tiafficactuateu contiolleis uo not iecognize specifieu cycle lengths.
Nechanical analogy: Length of pievious ieu anu the aiiival iate.
Rightofway; until the accumulateu queue has been seiveu.
Piinciple of signal timing analysis: Queue accumulation polygon (QAP)

Requiieu gieen time:
Taiget appioach: the gieentime iequiiement is ueteimineu by the
slope of the line iepiesenting the taiget of u.9.
Seconu appioach: teiminates each phase when a gap of a paiticulai
length is encounteieu at the uetectoi.
uoou piactice: gap thiesholu > gap encounteieu when the queue is being
seiveu.
Assuming that gaps laige enough to teiminate the phase can only occui
aftei the queue seivice inteival (baseu on = 1.u), the aveiage gieen
time may be estimateu as the sum of the queue seivice time anu the
phase extension time.
MAXIMUM GREEN TIME: CONTD
17
QUEUE ACCUMULATION POLYGON:
18
Aveiage uieen Time = Queue Seivice Time + Phase Extension Time ( )

Wheie,
r
= ieu aiiival iate (vehs)
g
= gieen aiiival iate (vehs)
= effective ieu time (s)
= satuiation flow iate (vehs)
q
= calibiation factoi = 1.u8 u.1* actual gieen timemaximum gieen time)
2



Wheie,
= vehicle aiiival iate thioughout cycle (vehs)
= unit extension time setting (s)
= time uuiing which uetectoi is occupieu by a passing vehicle(s) = [3.6*(
d
+
u
)]/
A

u
= vehicle length, assumeu to be S.S m
d
= Betectoi length (m)
A
= vehicle appioach speeu (kmph)
= minimum aiiival (intiabunch) heauway (s)
= a paiametei (vehs) =
= piopoition of fiee (unbuncheu) vehicles in tiaffic stieam = exp(bq)
b = bunching factoi
MAXIMUM GREEN TIME: CONTD
19
Table: Recommenueu Paiametei values

uieentime estimation mouel uoes not leau uiiectly to the ueteimination of an aveiage
cycle length oi gieen time because the gieen time iequiieu foi each phase is
uepenuent on the gieen time iequiieu by the othei phases.
Thus, a ciiculai uepenuency is establisheu that iequiies an iteiative piocess to solve.
With each iteiation, the gieen time iequiieu by each phase, given the gieen times
iequiieu by the othei phases, can be ueteimineu.
The logical staiting point foi the iteiative piocess involves the minimum times
specifieu foi each phase. If these times tuin out to be auequate foi all phases, the cycle
length will simply be the sum of the minimum phase times foi the ciitical phases.
If a paiticulai phase uemanus moie than its minimum time, moie time shoulu be
given to that phase. Thus, a longei ieu time must be imposeu on all of the othei
phases. This, in tuin, will inciease the gieen time iequiieu foi the subject phase.
MAXIMUM GREEN TIME: CONTD
Case (s) b
Single Lane 1.S u.6
Nultilane:
2 Lanes u.S u.S
S Lanes u.S u.8
20
ACTUATED CONTROL FEATURES:
RECALL SWITCH:
Recall switches ueteimine what happens to the signal when theie is no uemanu.
Noimally, one iecall switch is placeu in the on position, while all otheis aie
tuineu off.
CHANGE AND CLEARANCE INTERVALS:
Yellow anu allieu inteivals
Fixeu even in actuateu contiollei, WHY ?


Wheie,
y = yellow time, sec
ar = all ieu inteival, sec
S
85
= 8Sth peicentile speeu, ms
S
15
= 1Sth peicentile speeu, ms
t = ieaction time of the uiivei = 1 sec (stanuaiu)
a = ueceleiation iate = S ms2 (stanuaiu)
g = giaue of appioach in uecimal
w = wiuth of stieet being ciosseu, m
| = length of a vehicle, m
PEDESTRIAN WALK / DONT WALK:
Set in accoiuance with minimum gieen time
21
OPERATING PRINCIPLE:
Ninimum gieen, maximum gieen, anu unit oi
vehicle extension.
When the gieen is initiateu foi a phase, it will be at
least as long as the minimum gieen peiiou.
The contiollei uiviues the minimum gieen into an
initial poition anu a poition equal to one unit
extension.
If an auuitional call is ieceiveu uuiing the initial
poition of the minimum gieen, no time is auueu to
the phase, as theie is sufficient time within the
minimum gieen to cioss the ST0P line (yellow anu
allieu inteivals take caie of cleaiing the
inteisection).
If a call is ieceiveu uuiing the last 0 seconus (0nit
Extension) of the minimum gieen, 0 seconus of
gieen aie auueu to the phase.
Theieaftei, eveiy time an auuitional call is ieceiveu
uuiing a unit extension of 0 seconus, an auuitional
peiiou of 0 seconus is auueu to the gieen.
Note that the auuitional peiious of 0 seconus aie
auueu fiom the time of the actuation oi call. They
aie not auueu to the enu of the pievious unit
extension, as this woulu accumulate unuseu gieen
times within each unit extension anu incluue them
in the total gieen peiiou.
Green Extension = 4s
Time, t
(s)
G
r
e
e
n

t
i
m
e

r
e
m
a
i
n
i
n
g

(
s
)

Vehicle arrives at t = 4, 5, 7, 16, 18 s
20
Not to scale
10
Minimum Green = 10s
Max Green = 20s
A
M
B
E
R


R
E
D


MAX OUT EXAMPLE GREEN PHASE:
22
Green Extension = 4s
Time, t (s)
G
r
e
e
n

t
i
m
e

r
e
m
a
i
n
i
n
g

(
s
)

Vehicle arrives at t = 4 s
20
Not to scale
10
Minimum Green = 10s
Max Green
= 20s
Actual Green Phase = 14s
A
M
B
E
R


R
E
D


GAP OUT EXAMPLE GREEN PHASE:
23
24
TABLE: RECOMMENDED DETECTOR LOCATIONS & TIMING PARAMETERS
25
AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL:
DEFINITION AND PRINCIPLE
Time
Space
Bandwidth
Speed
26
Intersectio
n
Controller
Detector
Regional
Controller
Central
Controller
AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL:
27
AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL:
DEFINITION AND PRINCIPLE
Aiea Tiaffic Contiol (ATC) can be uefineu as a technique which
pioviues foi a centializeu contiol of numeious signal installations
uistiibuteu thioughout an uiban aiea, such that theie is a planneu
cooiuination between signals at uiffeient junctions. ATC systems
aie intelligent iealtime uynamic tiaffic contiol systems which aie
uesigneu to effectively iesponu to iapiu vaiiations in uynamic tiaffic
conuitions. The technique invaiiably employs uigital computeis foi
achieving the uesiieu objective.
So, ATC can be calleu as a combination of Tiaffic Responsive Signals
& Cooiuinateu Signals. In ATC systems, tiaffic signals in a paiticulai
aiea aie cooiuinateu in such a way that an objective function is
optimizeu. The objective function can be uelay, stops, queue length
etc. oi a weighteu combination of these. Nostly, optimization of a
weighteu combination of uelay anu numbei of stops is taken as the
objective function. The eailiest known scheme of Aiea Tiaffic
Contiol was in Toionto, begun in 19S9.
28
OBJECTIVES:
Ninimizing jouiney time foi vehicles.
Ninimizing vehiculai stops, iesulting in less noise, less
pollution anu less consumption of fuel.
Reuucing acciuents.
Biscouiaging use of ceitain aieas.
Ninimizing peisontime.
Ensuiing a smooth & safe tiaffic flow.

MAJOR BUILDING BLOCKS OF ATC:
vehicle Betectois
Inteisection Contiollei
Communication Netwoik
Application Softwaie
Cential (Regional) Contiol System
AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL: CONTD
29
AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL: CONTD
30
Bistiibuteu Intelligence Tiaffic Contiol System (BITCS) is a
contiol system in which inteisection contiolleis use timing
plans but can uynamically aujust the splits to suit tiaffic
conuitions at the contiollei level. BITCS aie closeu loop
systems pioviuing iealtime tiaffic auaptive contiol.

Syuney Cooiuinateu Tiaffic Auaptive System (SCATS) is a well
known BITCS. Bevelopeu by the New South Wales Bepaitment
of Nain Roaus, SCATS is a uynamic contiol system with a
uecentializeu aichitectuie. SCATS upuates inteisection cycle
length using the uetectois at the stop line, allows foi phase
skipping. 0ffsets between aujacent inteisections aie
pieueteimineu.
SOME POPULAR ATC SYSTEMS:
SCATS
31
HOW DOES SCATS WORK?
SCATS gatheis uata on tiaffic flows in iealtime at each
inteisection.
Bata is feu via the tiaffic contiollei to a cential computei.
The computei makes inciemental aujustments to tiaffic signal
timings baseu on minute by minute changes in tiaffic flow at each
inteisection.

SCATS FUNCTIONS
Betects tiaffic volume by movement
Conveits uata to flow iate
Calculates optimal cycle length
Calculates optimal splits by phase
Beteimines phase combinations
Checks timing alteiation thiesholus
Sets up implementation
SCATS CONTD
32
Cential
Nanagement
System
Regional
Computei
TTC
TTC
TTC
Regional
Computei
TTC
TTC
TTC
Regional
Computei
TTC
TTC TTC
Regional
Computei
TTC
TTC
TTC
Regional
Computei
TTC
TTC
TTC
SCATS ARCHITECTURE:
Traffic Controllers Tactical Traffic Control
up to 250 per Regional Computer
: Strategic Traffic Control; 1 to 32 RC
M
a
n
a
g
e
m
e
n
t

F
u
n
c
t
i
o
n
s
33
CENTRAL COMPUTER

0nly foi centializeu monitoiing of system peifoimance anu
equipment status.
Cential monitoi computei (CNS)
uata collection, input anu monitoiing
connecteu with Nanagement Computei
Nanagement computei: piintei teiminal, visual uisplay, PC
woik Station.
To maintain system at minimum iesouice owing to cential
management.
To uiagnose faults quickly
SCATS ARCHITECTURE CONTD
34
REGIONAL COMPUTER

It maintains autonomous tiaffic contiol of a set of contiolleis.
The system is expanuable by simply auuing iegional computeis.
To peifoim the stiategy contiol algoiithm.
To use the timeofuay anu tiaffic infoimation to select gieen
split plan, inteival offset plan anu cycle time.
The local contiollei within iegion aie gioupeu into systems anu
subsystems.
SYSTEM:
It was uiviueu by typically geogiaphically unielateu.
They uo not inteiact with each othei.
SUBSYSTEM:
The basic element of contiol at the stiategic level.
Each subsystem may compiise one to ten inteisections
SCATS ARCHITECTURE CONTD
35
LOCAL CONTROLLER
Foi stiategic opeiations, passes infoimation to iegional
computei anu accepteu infoimation to auaptive tiaffic
conuition.
Foi tactical opeiations:
opeiate unuei the stiategic umbiella.
keep local flexibility to meet cyclic vaiiation in uemanu
at each inteisection
base on uetectoi infoimation.

Local Controller Functions
Noue of 0peiation
Phase Timing
Betectoi Logic

SCATS ARCHITECTURE CONTD
36
Begiee of Satuiation (BS)
Cai Equivalent Flow (vK)
Cycle Length
uieen split Plan
0ffset Plans
Linking of Subsystems

LIMITATIONS:
It lacks useifiienuly inteiface.
The eiioi messages (flags & alaims) aie not easy to
ueciphei & uo not pioviue the oppoitunity foi
coiiective actions by system opeiatois.
Boes not have the pieuictive capability of SC00T.
Costly.

STRATEGIC CONTROL:
37
SOME POPULAR ATC SYSTEMS:
SCOOT
Split Cycle 0ffset 0ptimization Technique (SC00T)
Bevelopeu by the Tianspoit Reseaich Laboiatoiy (TRL)
Changes the signal timings to minimize a Peifoimance Inuex
(PI), which is a composite measuie of uelay, queue length
anu stops in the netwoik.
SC00T computeis: each cell up to 6u junctions; 2S6 vehicle
counting uetectois on stieet.
0nlike the SCAT system, the SC00T uetectois aie placeu as
fai upstieam (usually 14 m fiom the stopline)
Thiee optimization pioceuuies:
Split 0ptimizei
Cycle Time 0ptimizei
0ffset 0ptimizei
38
LIMITATIONS
Inability to hanule closely spaceu signals uue to its
paiticulai uetection configuiation iequiiements.
Piimaiily uesigneu to ieact to longteim, slow vaiiations
in tiaffic uemanu.
Inteiface is uifficult to hanule.
0nique Tiaffic teiminologies .
SCOOT CONTD
39
COMPARISON OF ATC SYSTEMS
Parameters SCATS SCOOT UTCS
ATC Logic Algoiithmic Nouel baseu
Contiol Bistiibuteu Cential Cential
Betectoi Location Bownstieam 0pstieam 0pstieam
0ffsets Pieueteimineu Bynamic Pieueteimineu
Tiaffic Response Split aujustment
foi existing tiaffic
using occupancy
uetectois
Tiaffic piojection
algoiithms using
system uetectois
Plan matching
using system
uetectois
Applicability Fixeu Tiaffic
Region
Aujustable Region
Cost of softwaie
(as in 1984, $)
1Su,uuu SSu,uuu 1uu,uuu
40
vehicles tiaveling on a signalizeu appioach at the speeu of Su mph. Assume the
uetectoi length on the appioach is 6 feet, anu the vehicle length is 1S ft. If the signal
opeiation is uesigneu to gap out the phase when a vehicle heauway is gieatei than 4.u
sec. What passage gap value (unit extension) shoulu be set in the signal contiollei.
Set up a signalizeu inteisection in Synchionization with two oneway stieets
(Eastbounu anu Noithbounu). The inteisection is contiolleu with a fully actuateu
contiollei. The eastbounu is contiolleu by phase 2, anu the noithbounu is contiolleu
by phase 4. Both appioaches have a stop line uetectoi of 4u ft long. The eastbounu is
the main stieet, so gieen iesiues on the eastbounu uiiection when theie is no vehicle
call on the noithbounu uiiection. 0sing the following tiaffic uemanu: Eastbounu: 4uu
vph ; Noithbounu: 2uu vph. Assume minimum gieen (minimum initial) = S seconus,
anu the pass passage gap S.u sec. Compute the uelay at the system as well.
An isolateu subuiban inteisection of two majoi aiteiials is to be signalizeu using a full
actuateu contiollei. Aiea uetection is to be useu, anu theie aie no uiiveways oi othei
potential entiy points foi vehicles within 9u m of the ST0P line on all appioaches. The
inteisection is shown in the figuie anu all volumes have alieauy been conveiteu to
tvus foi convenience. Lefttuin slots of 7S m in length aie pioviueu foi each appioach.
The tvu conveisions assume that a piotecteu lefttuin phase will be pioviueu foi all
appioaches.

SAMPLE APPLICATIONS
41
SELECTED REFERENCE:
Aliyah, N. Boiton; Web seminai pioceeuings on Signal Timing Funuamentals;
Piofessional Bevelopment Piogiam, ITE Washington; 2uuS.
Cail Shaflik, PEng; Technical papei on Tiaffic Signal Betectoi Locations Piopei
Positioning Incieases Efficiency & Safety; 0niveisity of Biitish Columbia; 2u1u.
Beniy, RB; Repoit on Signal Timing on a Shoestiing Peifoiming 0iganization 0ffice
of Tiavel Nanagement, Feueial Bighway Auministiation, Washington; Naich, 2uuS.
}ames Bonneson, Siinivasa Sunkaii, anu Nichael Piatt; TRAFFIC SIuNAL 0PERATI0NS
BANBB00K; Texas Bepaitment of Tianspoitation; Naich 2uu9.
Kaiuiyali, Bi. L.R.; Tiaffic Engineeiing anu Tianspoit Planning, Khanna Publisheis;
2u1S.,
Nathew, Piof. Bi. Tom v.; Lectuie Notes on vehicle Actuateu Signals; IIT Bombay;
Apiil 2, 2u12.
Nicholas Lownes, Ph.B; Tiaffic Signals; 0C0NN School of Engineeiing; 2uu9.
Neil R. uioss.; SCATS Auaptive Tiaffic System; TRB Auaptive Tiaffic Contiol
Woikshop; }an 2uuu.
Tiaffic Contiol System Besign foi All Puipose Roaus (Compenuium of Examples); The
Bighways Agency; 2uuS.
W. Biilon, T. Wietholt; Expeiiences with Auaptive Signal Contiol in ueimany; 2u1S.
Yi Zhao, Zong Tian; A technical Papei on An 0veiview of the 0sage of Auaptive Signal
Contiol System in the 0niteu States of Ameiica; 0niveisity of Nevaua Reno; Nay,
2u12.
42