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TrafficSignalPriority

Description/Objective
Prioritycanbegiventopublictransportvehiclesattrafficsignals.Thiscomplementsotherprioritymeasuresintherunningwaysuchasreservedway,bus
lanes,prioritypullouts,etc.

Theprimaryobjectivesofpriorityforpublictransportattrafficsignalsisusuallyoneormoreofthefollowing:

Toreducethetimetakentopassthroughanintersectionarea.Inurbanareas,busesandtramsmaypassthoughmanysignalisedintersections.The
cumulativedelayatalltheintersectionscanaddseveralminutestotheoveralltriptime,leadingtopassengerfrustrationandtoincreasedresource
requirementsandoperatingcosts.Busesareespeciallypronetodelaysattrafficsignals.Astheymuststopforpassengerboarding/alighting,and
thenmayhavetowaitforasafeopportunitytorejointhetrafficstream,theyoftenlosetheirplaceinthetrafficplatoonfromthepreviousintersection.
Consequently,thetrafficsignalhasturnedtoredbythetimetheyarriveattheintersection.Theobjectiveistobetteralignthebuswiththegreen
phase,andtherebyreducedelays.
Tominimisethevarianceoftimetakentopassthroughanintersectionarea.Theamountoftimetakentopassthroughtheintersectiondependson
whetherthesignalisgreenorred,andifred,onwheninthecyclethebusjoinedthequeue.Thecumulativeeffectoverallthesignalised
intersectionsonaroutecanamounttoseveralminutes.Theimpactcanbeevenmoresevereifsignalcycletimesarelengthy.Thisvariancecan
impactonthereliabilityandtimekeepingandcanleadtobunching.Itmayrequireextratimetobeaddedtotheschedule,thusaddingtoresource
costs,Minimisationofvarianceisoftentheprimaryreasonforimplementingtrafficsignalpriorityforpublictransportvehicles.
Toallow/assistbusesandtramstosafelymakemanoeuvresnotpermittedtogeneraltraffic.Thisisusuallyimplementedinconjunctionwithother
trafficmanagementmeasuressuchasentrancetobusways,busonlystreets,andcontraflowbuslanes,oratcutthroughsatroundabouts.
Themaintechniquesusedare:

Adjustthestageorsignalprogramphasing/timing:Thisisthemostcommontechnique.Whenthepublictransportvehicleisdetectedatornearthe
intersection:
Ifthesignalisgreen,thegreenphasecanbeextendedforseveralsecondsuntilthevehiclehaspassedthrough
Ifthesignalisred,thephasescanbeshortenedsothatthepublictransportvehiclegetsagreenlightattheearliestopportunity
Insomecases,publictransportvehiclesmaybegivenzerowaitprioritythisisusuallyonlydonefortrams,butmayalsodoneforBRT.Inthis
case,thephasesareextendedortruncatedsufficientlyquicklythatthelightisalwaysgreenwhenthevehiclearrives.Thevehicledetection
pointneedstobelocatedatanappropriatedistancetoallowsufficienttimeforthephasechangestobedonesafely.
Adjustthestagephasing:Thistechniquechangesthesequenceofthephases.Itmayomitaparticularphase(e.g.turningfilterforothertraffic,or
pedestrianphase),orbringforwardaphasethatgivestheneededprioritytothepublictransportvehicle.Trafficengineersareoftenreluctanttouse
 thistechnique.Thereasonisthatmotoristsbecomefamiliarwiththephasingofvariousintersections.Theymaymoveinanticipationofanexpected
greenlightorfilter,whichcanleadtoaccidentsifthesequencechangesandtheygetitwrong.
Busonlyturns:Publictransportvehiclesmaybepermittedtomaketurnsorgostraightaheadwhereitisprohibitedforothervehicles.Insomecases,
thismayapplyonlyatcertaintimesoftheday.Thetrafficsignalaspectsandapproachsignageneedtoindicateclearlythatsuchmovementsare
permittedonlytothepublictransportvehicles.
BusGating:Thisisatechniqueusedtoallowthepublictransportvehicletomovethroughtheintersectionaheadoftheothertraffic.Itisusually
implementedwithaphysicalprioritymeasurethatenablesthevehicletogettothestoplinelevelwith,oraheadof,theothertraffic.Forlightrail
operatingondedicatedrightsofway,thiscansimplybeitsownrightofway.Fortramsorbuses,ashortdedicatedlanemaybeprovided.To
overcomegeometryproblemsatjunctions,asecondsignalmaybeinstalledsomedistancebackfromtheprimarysignal,sothatthebusgatingcan
occurthereandthefulljunctioncanbeutilisedbyalltraffic.Thebusgatinghasaspecialsignalforbuses,whichgivesthegreenafewseconds
aheadoftheothertraffic.Thisissufficientforthebusortramtobeatthefrontoftheplatoonandfirstthroughtheintersection.
Busonlyphases:Somephasesmaybecalleduponlywhenapublictransportvehicleapproaches.Thiswouldbetypicallybeusedwherepublic
transportvehiclesneedtoentergeneraltrafficfromarestrictedrunningway,ortoallowamanoeuvrepermittedonlytothepublictransportvehicles
(e.g.enteringabuswayorcontraflowbuslane).
Priorityattrafficsignalsmaybeselectivei.e.notallpublictransportvehiclesreceivethepriorityfacility.Themaincasesare:

Routespecificrequirements,grantedonlytoroutesmakingaspecificmanoeuvre.
Filtertoturnacrossoncomingtraffic
Enteringbusway
Modespecificpriority,wherethelevelofpriorityforonemodeishigherthanforothers.ThisisparticularlyusedfortramsandBRTtrunkroutes.
Scheduleposition.Publictransportvehiclesmaybegrantedprioritywhentheyareontimeorindelay,butnotgrantedpriorityiftheyarerunning
aheadoftheirscheduledtime.
Conflictpriority,wheretwoormorepublictransportvehiclesmayseekpriorityatthesameintersection.Theassignmentofpriorityincludes:
Prioritisebymode,wheretramsandBRTvehiclesgetpriorityaheadofothers
Prioritisebyroute,whereonerouteisgivenpriorityoverothers
Prioritisebymanoeuvrerequest,whereonetypeofrequestsuchasfilterturnacrossoncomingtrafficisgivenpriorityoversimplerrequestssuch
asearlygreen
Prioritisevehicledelaystatus
Firstcome,firstserved
Alltrafficsignalpriorityalsoinvolvesabalancingofinterestsbetweenthepublictransportvehicles,generaltrafficandpedestrians.

Technologies,dataandresources
Trafficsignalpriorityutilisestheavailabletrafficsignalcontrolsystems.Mostmodernsystemsalreadyhaveinbuiltcapabilityforprovidingpriority.Thepriority
phasesaregenerallysetupasforanyotherphase.Theadditionalsoftwarecapacitydealswithhandlingthepriorityrequests,applicationofthepriorityrules
andmanagingthestaging/timing.
Theadditionaltechnologiesusedfortrafficsignalpriorityrelatetothevehicledetection,sothatthetrafficsignalcontrollerisawareoftherequestandits
associatedinformation.Themainmeansofdetectionare:

Loopintheroadwayorradardetectsvehiclepresenceandcanidentifyfromtheprofilethatitisabusortram.Thecontrollerdeducesfromloop
locationwhatprioritytogive.
Transponderintheroadwayoratroadsidedialogueswithcounterpartonthepublictransportvehicle.Informationfromthevehicleassiststhesignal
controllertodeducewhatpriorityisrequested.
InformationfromtheCAD/AVMorothervehiclelocationsystemadvisesthetrafficcontrolsystemofapproachingvehiclesandthepriorityrequests
Optionally,adetectormaybeplacedwithinorbeyondthejunctiontoverifythatthepublictransportvehiclehaspassedthrough(departureloop).
Thiscanallowthephasetobeterminatedattheearliestopportunity.

AdvantagesandCautions
TheprimaryadvantagesofTrafficSignalPriorityforpublictransportvehiclesareto:

Reducedelaysatintersections,andhencereduceoverallrunningtime
Reducevarianceoftimespentstoppedattrafficsignals,andhenceimproveservicereliability
Reducevehicleresourcerequirementsandoperatingcosts
Improvecustomersatisfaction
TheprincipalcautionsinrelationtoTrafficSignalPriorityforpublictransportvehiclesare:

Prioritycannotbegiventoeveryoneateverytime.Reasonablebalanceisrequiredbetweenthepublictransportvehiclesandgeneraltraffic
Whenfrequenciesareveryhighandcollectiveheadwaysarelowerthancyclelengths,onlyalimitedpercentageofbusortramtripswillbeeligiblefor
receivingpriority.
Goodworkingrelationshipsarerequiredwiththetrafficauthorities
Accuratelocationofthevehiclesandproperlocationofloops/transponderscanbeatimeconsumingactivity,whilemaintenanceofthehardware,
especiallyloopdetectorscanbecostly.Failuretodothiscorrectlycanresultinnotgettingthedesiredpriorityand/orimposingunnecessarydelayson
othertraffic

RelevantCaseStudies
Dublin,Zurich

References