Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Science

Department of Civil Engineering

CVL 316
Transportation Engineering
Winter 2017

Yoassry Elzohairy, Ph.D., P.Eng.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

 Signals Coordination

Traffic signals within 800 m (0.5 mi) of one

another along a major route should be
coordinated, preferably with interconnected
controller units.

Signal coordination need not be maintained
across boundaries between signal systems that
operate on different cycle lengths.

Textbook pp 176-179
2
 Benefits

o Improvement of service (higher and smoother flow)

o Reduction in user costs (reduced delay)
o Conservation of energy (Less fuel)
o Preservation of the environment (Less pollutants)
o Maintenance of preferred speed (Discouraging
speeding)
o Maintenance of well-formed platoons (Providing
gaps to side streets)
o Stop fewer vehicles (Less queued vehicles within
the available storage)

3
 Coordinated or Isolated?
Actuated or Pre-
Pre-timed?

 Coordination when 0.5 mile or less between

signals
 Isolated signals when 1 mile or more to the closest
signals
 When distance > 0.5 mi & < 1 mi, cost-
effectiveness of coordination should be studied
 Pre-timed and semi-actuated signals in
coordination
 Full-actuated at isolated intersections
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Traffic Signal Coordination

5
Offset Effect

10 sec offset 50 sec offset

Time, s
Perfect offset Poor offset
If speed = 65km/h (sometimes inevitable)
Distance = 180 m
Offset =180/(65/3.6)=10 sec
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Favoring one direction

North Bound is Favored

Bandwidth

8
Our goal: Maximize the bandwidth in both directions
 How to maximize bandwidth?

Change
cycle length, green times, and offsets
to minimize stopped traffic.

Typically accomplished using software

10
 Example North

1320 ft 1320 ft 1320 ft

unsignalized

master 2nd signal final signal

signal

Given:
C = 60 seconds
G = 28 seconds
Y = 2 seconds
the final signal offset from master is 24 seconds
average progression speed = 32 mph
11
Step 1: Determine g and r
The actual signal goes through a sequence of intervals
for each signal phase
 Green
 Yellow
 All-red
 Red
g = G + Y tl
g = effective green time
G = actual green time
Y = sum of yellow and all red
tl = total lost time = start-up lost time + Clearance lost time

Assumed

g = G + Y tl = 28 + 2 + 0 = 30 seconds
r = C g = 60 30 = 30 seconds
Step 2: Draw master and final signals
g

g
Step 3: Convert speed to ft/s

32 mph x 5280/3600 = 46.9 ft/s

Step 4: Calculate travel time from

master to final signal
Travel time between the master signal
and the final signal = (3 * 1320 ft)/46.9
ft/s
= 84.43 sec
= 84 seconds
Step 5: Draw NB and SB traffic streams
Step 6: Determine NB & SB
bandwidths

NB bandwidth = 114 sec 84 sec

= 30 sec Note that this bandwidth = g
SB bandwidth = (54 sec + 84 sec) 120 sec
= 18 sec Note that this bandwidth < g

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 Step 7: Determine midstream
signal offsets and g

offset = 1320 ft / 46.93 ft/s = 28.12 sec

= 28 sec

60 + 28 = 88 sec (start)
54 + (1320 + 1320)/46.93 = 110.25 sec
= 110 sec (end)
g = 110 88 = 22 sec
G = g Y = 22 - 2 = 20 seconds
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88
110
 Step 8: Determine cross street gap
times

30 + (1320 + 1320)/46.93 = 86.25 sec

= 86 sec (start)

84 + (1320)/46.93 = 112.13 sec

= 112 sec (end)

gap = 112 86 = 26 seconds

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Homework

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 What is Calibration?
 Model calibration involves a comparison between predicted
results and field measurements.
 Calibration means determination of the model parameters.
 Assume that two variables are measured from a population. We
get n pairs of observations: (x1, y1),,(xn,yn)
 Our aim is to develop a model that can be used to predict the
values of a dependent or response variable Y based upon the
values of at least one explanatory or independent variable X.
 The regression equation can take the form:
Y = a + bX
where
X is the independent variable,
Y is the dependent variable,
a is the intercept and
b is the slope of the line.

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 Curve Fitting allows us to:
 estimate a value of a parameter that describes the
relationship between X and Y (e.g. slope)
 forecast future values of Y
 predict values of Y when it is impractical or
expensive to actually measure them.

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 Principle of the Least Square
Method
 Assume n pairs of observations: (x1,y1) (xn,yn)
 These values are used to estimate a and b.
 We want to estimate the values to result in a line that
best fits the observations. This estimate is
approached by determining the values so the sum of
the squares of deviations between the observed
values and the regression line is a minimum.
 Minimize (observed - predicted) 2 = (Y-Y)2
 Derivation of equations for a and b.

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 Fitting the Regression Line

N
i =1
( xi x )( yi y )
b= a = y bx

N 2
i =1
( xi x )

With these two formulae, we can easily calculate the
regression line for small datasets by hand. However, for
large datasets and when we have more than one
explanatory variable, we have to use a statistical package
(e.g.; SPSS) to do it for us

Methods used to evaluate the fitted line include:

Scatter Plot

Correlation Coefficient. 26
 Example
A typical survey of travelers produced the trip generation data
given in the following table. Develop a mathematical expression to
predict the number of shopping trips made on Saturday for each
household.

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28
Homework

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Calibration of the Gravity Model
Definitions and notations
Trip matrix
The sum of the trips in a row equals to the
total number of trips produced by that
zone.
The sum of the trips in a column is the
number of trips attracted to that zone.
These two constraints can be represented
as:

If reliable information is available to estimate both Oi and Dj , the model is said

to be doubly constrained.
In some cases, there will be information about only one of these constraints,
the model is called singly constrained.
Calibration of the Gravity Model
In the gravity model we define Fij as a Friction Factor; a value which is an
inverse function of travel time
1
Fij = where c is a calibration constant
t c ij


A F K
Tij = Pi n = Pp
j ij ij
i ij
A j Fij K ij
j =1

Because we started with the

assumption Fij = 1.0 and Kij = 1.0

T33
 Design of a Bus Route
A. Fleet Size as Determined by Policy

The number of vehicles (or fleet size)

necessary to provide service can be
found as follows:
 Cycle time is the time for one vehicle
to make a complete cycle of the route.
It is twice the route length (L) divided
by the average speed (S) plus layover
times (or terminal time) at each end of 2L
the route. Cycle time = 60 + TA + TB
S
 Vehicle requirements (fleet size) can
be calculated as a function of cycle
time and headways. A transit board of
commission can set headways by
policy. For example the board can
declare that all vehicles operate at 30
minute headway.
The actual number of vehicles provided is found by rounding up to the next whole number. Thus if
there is a cycle time of 100 minutes and a 30 minute headway, four vehicles would be needed. This is
somewhat inefficient. The route cycle time could change (a 120 minute cycle time for four vehicles or
90 minutes for three vehicles) or the headway could be changed (to 25 minutes) to make the route
more efficient. 38
 Design of a Bus Route
B. Fleet Size as Determined by Demand

 Vehicle needs can also be determined as a function of vehicle

capacity and peak point travel demand. The peak point demand is a
triple peak, at the peak load point on the route, in the peak direction
and at the peak time of day, given in passengers per hour.
 Calculate the required headway from vehicle capacity divided by the
peak point demand (D). Vehicle capacity is the number of seats (C)
times the allowable load factor (LF) at the peak point. The equation is
multiplied by 60 to convert hours to minutes.

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Fleet Size Problems

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Fleet Size Problems (Contd)

41
Interpretation of the Examples

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Homework