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Module 4-2 Tutorial Solutions

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41 views2 pages

Module 4-2 Tutorial Solutions

Uploaded by

Alex Chaves
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Module 4-2 tutorial

Solutions

Signalised intersections – operations and control


strategies
Question 1. Consider the signal operations of four successive intersections as in the figure below. The
distances between the intersections are shown in the figure. If free flow speed is 60 km/h determine

a) The offset O1, O2, and O4.

b) The bandwidth.

250 m 350 m 200 m

Solution to Question 1.

a) The offsets should be determined such that the vehicles assuming travelling by the free flow speed reach to
the immediate downstream intersection at the start of the green time. Simply put, in an ideal scenario with zero
residual queue, the offset can be determined using O=L/v. Accordingly using free flow speed as 16.67 m/s,

O1=(250+350)/16.67=36 s; O2=350/16.67=21 s; O4=200/16.67=12 s.

Note that O1 and O2 are negative that is these cycles should start earlier than the reference intersection 3 and
O4 is positive that means the cycle of intersection 4 to start later than the reference intersection. See the
figure.

b) By having a careful look at the figure, we can determine that the bandwidth in this case is the minimum of
the green time of the four intersections which is in this example is the green time of intersection 3.

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Question 2. A common traffic signal practice in the city of Sydney is to ban the right turns at the intersections
or at least forbid them during the peak traffic intervals. The signalized streets in those areas are mostly bi-
directional with 2 lanes per direction. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this policy on the
operations of traffic?

Solution to Question 2.

This practice, forbidden right turn, has several advantages especially in areas with high demand, and short
block distance between signalized intersections. By banning the right turns, the number of possible
movements decreases from 12 to a smaller number, perhaps 10 or even 8. This results in a smaller number of
phases usually from 4 to 2. And consequently, cycle time will be significantly shorter. These are the direct
effect of restricted right turns. Less phase means less loss time (which is a fraction of yellow times and all-red
times) so higher capacity is expected on average. Less cycle time means on average shorter queue length
(also shorter maximum queue length) that is a crucial measure in short links to avoid spillback (aka spillover).
Moreover, if the links have 2 lanes the lane allocation to movements will be more straightforward, i.e.
dedicated LT + dedicated Through or mixed LT and Through + dedicated Through).

The disadvantage would be a portion of vehicles need to travel more. That means average travel distance
increases. Note that this increase does not necessarily lead to higher travel times as well. In nutshell, this
seems a policy that deserves detailed analysis and might be beneficial.

Question 3. Assume the green times of a 3-phase traffic signal are 25, 40 and 20 seconds. What is the cycle
time? Note to consider the yellow and all-red times. Check Table 6.8 of Guide to Traffic Management Part 9:
Transport Control Systems – Strategies and Operations, Austroads (2020).

Solution to Question 3.

Using Table 6.8, we assume 5 seconds for each yellow time and 3 seconds for each all-red time. Also, each
phase includes one yellow time and one all-red time. So, the cycle time would be
25+5+3+40+5+3+20+5+3=109 seconds. Note that for a detailed design of traffic signal timing to determine the
yellow and all-red times of each phase, one should consult Appendix G4.6 of Guide to Traffic Management
Part 9: Transport Control Systems – Strategies and Operations, Austroads (2020).

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