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Signal Delay Notes Ce780a 2020

This document provides instructions for an experiment to study traffic delays at a signalized intersection in Kanpur, India. Students will collect vehicle count and queue length data over 45-60 minutes using video cameras. They will then use the data to calculate delays using four different methods: 1) queue length, 2) Webster equation, 3) Highway Capacity Manual standards, and 4) deterministic arrival rate with initial queue length. Students will also determine the saturation flow rate and capacity of the intersection for different cycle lengths. The goal is to compare delays from each method and understand traffic flow at the signalized intersection.

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56 views

Signal Delay Notes Ce780a 2020

This document provides instructions for an experiment to study traffic delays at a signalized intersection in Kanpur, India. Students will collect vehicle count and queue length data over 45-60 minutes using video cameras. They will then use the data to calculate delays using four different methods: 1) queue length, 2) Webster equation, 3) Highway Capacity Manual standards, and 4) deterministic arrival rate with initial queue length. Students will also determine the saturation flow rate and capacity of the intersection for different cycle lengths. The goal is to compare delays from each method and understand traffic flow at the signalized intersection.

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CE 780A: Laboratory Course in Transportation Engineering (Semester: 2019-2020 II)

Lecture Notes
Pranamesh Chakraborty
([email protected])

Experiment 7: Traffic Delays in Signalized Intersections

Revisit the discussion on “Traffic Flow in Signalized Intersections” in the Section 4.4.1 of Chapter 4 of
the book “Principles of Transportation Engineering” (Chakroborty & Das, 2018) and the corresponding
lecture materials taught in the CE683: Traffic Engineering course.

Introduction: The main objective of this experiment is to study traffic delays of signalized intersection
in Kanpur. The number of vehicle arrivals, vehicle departures, queue length, and signal timing
information need to be used to measure the traffic delays using (a) queue length information, (b)
Webster equation, (c) Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) standards, and (d) deterministic arrival rate
with initial queue length. Further, also estimate the saturation headway and capacity of the signalized
intersection using the observed data.

Procedure: The study location is the traffic intersection at Bada Chauraha near Z Square Mall, Kanpur.
Two video cameras need to be setup at the traffic intersection: one camera facing the arrival of vehicles
towards a specific intersection leg, and the other camera facing the departure of vehicles from that
intersection leg. Number of vehicle arrivals and queue length need to be measured manually at every
20 seconds interval over the study duration. Simultaneously, green time and cycle length also need to
be noted. The data collection should be done for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour. For unequal cycle lengths,
the delay can be calculated individually for each cycle length.

Methodology: The observed data at the traffic signal intersection is to be used to estimate delays,
saturation headway, and capacity of the intersection leg for each cycle length. The delay can be
estimated using the following 4 methods:
1. Delay estimation using queue length information:
In this method, queue length (qi) for each 20-seconds interval (I) is noted along with the total number
of vehicles arrival (Vtotal) in the particular cycle length (cl) to determine the average delay (Dq,cl), as per
the Equation (1. Similarly, delay for all cycle lengths observed during the data collection period need
to be calculated. Details regarding this method can be found in the Section 4.4.2 of (Chakroborty &
Das, 2018).
0.9 × 𝐼 ∑𝑚𝑖=1 𝑞𝑖
𝐷𝑞,𝑐𝑙 = (1)
𝑉𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙

2. Delay estimation using Webster delay equation:


Use Webster delay equation to calculate average delay for each cycle length (Webster, 1958). Details
regarding this method can also be found in the Section 4.4.1 of (Chakroborty & Das, 2018). Note,
Webster equation is valid only for unsaturated traffic conditions in the intersection.

3. Delay estimation using HCM standards:


Calculate average delay for each cycle length using Highway Capacity Manual 2010 standards (TRB,
2014) for delay determination for signalized intersections, described in Chapter 18 (Equation 18-19).
4. Delay estimation using deterministic arrival rate with initial queue length:
Calculate average delay of each cycle using fixed arrival rate with initial queue length (Qb). Use
trapezoidal analysis to determine the area corresponding to delay for each cycle (for unequal cycle
lengths and the entire study duration for equal cycle length).

Compare and discuss the delays obtained through each method. Further, also determine the saturation
flow and capacity of the intersection for each cycle length, as per the details provided in the reference
book (Chakroborty & Das, 2018) in “Collecting Data on Saturation Flow Rate” and “Capacity and
level-of-service analysis of signalized intersections” subsections, Section 4.4.1.

Bibliography
Chakroborty, P., & Das, A. (2018). Principles of Transportation Engineering (Second Edition). New
Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited.
TRB. (2014). Highway Capacity Manual 2010, Volumes 1 - 4, including 2014 Errata - Chapter 18.
Signalized Intersections. Transportation Research Board.
Webster, F. V. (1958). Traffic Signal Settings. Road Research Lab Tech Papers. UK.

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