Lecture 3

Basic Principles of Intersection

Signalisation
 Lecture 3
Design Manual for Traffic Signals in
Ireland
The Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) was introduced in 1992
in England and Wales, and subsequently in Scotland and Northern Ireland. A
modified version, the National Roads Authority Design Manual for Roads
and Bridges (NRA DMRB) was formally introduced for use in Ireland from
2001. The DMRB provides a comprehensive manual system which
accommodates, within a set of loose-leaf volumes, all current standards,
advice notes and other published documents relating to the design,
assessment and operation of trunk roads (including motorways) in the United
Kingdom.
The NRA DMRB takes the DMRB and adapts it for use on national roads in
Ireland through a series of implementation documents. These take the form
of NRA Addenda to the individual documents contained in the DMRB and, in
some cases, complete replacement NRA Standards. At present the NRA
DMRB only implements the design standards contained in Volumes
1,2,4,5,6,7,8 and part of 9 of the DMRB.
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Assessing the need for signalisation

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Four basic mechanisms

1. Discharge headways, Saturation flow

2. The critical lane and time budget concept

3. Effects of right turning vehicles

4. Delay
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Discharge Headways
The first discharge headway is the time between the initiation of the green
indication and the rear wheels of the first vehicle to cross over the stop line.
The Nth discharge headway (N>1) is the time between the rear wheels of the
N-1 th and N th vehicles crossing over the stop line.

The headway begins to level off with 4 or 5th vehicle.

The level headway = saturation headway
 Lecture 3

Saturation flow rate

In a given lane, if every vehicle consumes an average of h seconds of green
time, and if the signal continues to be uninterruptedly green, then S vph could
enter the intersection where S is the saturation flow rate (vehicles per hour of
green time per lane) given by 3600
S
h
 Lecture 3

Lost time
Start-up lost time: At the beginning of each green indication as the first few
cars in a standing queue experience start-up delays,
l1 e(i )
e(i) = (actual headway-h) for vehicle I calculated for all vehicles with
headway>h
green time necessary to clear N vehicles, T l1 h( N )

The change interval lost time: It is estimated by the amount of the change
interval not used by vehicles; this is generally a portion of the yellow plus all-
red intervals.
The 1994 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) adds the two lost times together to
form one lost time and put it at the beginning of an interval. Default value = 3.0
seconds per phase
 Lecture 3
Effective green time &
Capacity of Lane group
gi Gi Yi t L
t L l1 l2
Actual green time
Yellow + all red time
Total lost time

The ratio of effective green time to cycle length is green ratio

Saturation flow rate of a lane group is the theoretical capacity of the lane
group if 100% green time was available.
gi
Actual capacity of a lane group, ci si
C
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Graphical representation
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Example
A given movement at a signalised intersection receives a 27-second
green time, and 3 seconds of yellow plus all red out of a 60 second cycle.
If the saturation headway is 2.14 seconds/vehicle, the start-up lost time
is 2 seconds/phase and the clearance lost time is 1 second/phase, what is
the capacity of the movement per lane?
 Lecture 3

Critical Lane
This concept is used for the allocation of the 3600 seconds in the hour to lost
time and to productive movement.
The amount of time required for each signal phase is determined by the most
intensely used lane which is permitted to move during the phase. All other lane
movement in the phase require less time than the critical lane. The timings of
any signal phase is based on the flow and lost times of the critical lane.
Each signal phase has one and only one critical lane.
Capacity can be maximum sum of critical lane volumes that a signal can
accommodate. The max. total volume that can be handled on all critical lanes
for a given time budget (within an hour),
1 3600
Vc 3600 ( N )( t L )( )
h C
 Lecture 3

Capacity (using critical Lane volume)

the effect of number of phases and cycle time on Vc

Lost time remains constant through out
(h= 2.15s, lost time = 3s/phase)
 Lecture 3

v/c ratio and PHF

(volume-to-capacity) V/C ratio: In signal analysis, the v/c ratio is often
referred to as the "degree of saturation". The v/c ratio is the ratio of the actual
or projected demand flow rate (during the peak period, usually defined as 15
minutes) in a lane group, and the capacity of the lane group.
When analyzing an existing facility under existing conditions, a measured flow
rate is compared to an estimated capacity. To be meaningful, the existing flow
rates should represent arrival flows, Often, however, it is easier to count
departure flows; and this is what many intersection volume studies actually
document. Where departure flows are used as the basis for a capacity analysis,
a resulting v/c ratio> 1.00 cannot be accepted as accurate. If the departure
count is correct, then the capacity of the lane group must be equal to or
greater than the observed flow. When analysis "predicts" a v/c ratio in excess
of 1.00, only one interpretation is possible: capacity has been underestimated.

The PHF is used as a volume adjustment factor. This adjustment assumes that
all movements peak during the same 15-minute time-period. It is a very
conservative assumption.
 Lecture 3

Consideration of v/c ratio and PHF

Nt L
The cycle length equation becomes, Cdes
Vc
1
PHF (v / c)(3600 / h)
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Effects of right-turning vehicles

 Lecture 3

Effects of right-turning vehicles

Right turns can be made from a
Shared lane operation
Exclusive lane operation
Traffic signals may allow permitted or protected right turn
Right-turning vehicles look for a gap in the opposing traffic on a permitted
turning movement, which is made through a conflicting pedestrian or an
opposing vehicle flow.
Right-turning vehicles consume more effective green time than through
vehicles.
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Effects of right-turning vehicles

Through Car Equivalent
depends on the opposing
flows, and the number of opposing lanes
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Example
Example: consider an approach with 10% RT, two lanes, permitted RT
phasing, a RT equivalency factor of 5, and an ideal saturation headway
of 2 sec per veh. Determine
(1) the equivalent saturation headway for this case,
(2) the saturation flow rate for approach, and
(3) the adjustment factor for the sat. flow rate? (adj. flow rate / sat flow
rate of TH vehicles)
 Lecture 3

Calculation of cycle length

Min. cycle length, C NtL
min
Vc
1
3600 h

Considering desired v/c ratio,

Considering peaking within hour,

Desirable cycle length, C NtL

min
Vc
1
PHF v c 3600 h
 Lecture 3

Performance measures

Delay, Queuing, Stops

Delay most directly affects drivers experience.

 Lecture 3

Performance measures

Stopped Time Delay: time a vehicle stopped waiting to pass the intersection.
Approach Delay:
stopped time + acceleration + deceleration
Travel Time Delay: (actual travel time-desired travel time)
Time-in-queue Delay: Total time from joining a queue to passing the stop line
 Lecture 3

Websters Delay Model

Websters uniform delay (UD) formula
Delay
 Lecture 3

Websters Delay Model

Websters uniform delay (UD) formula

Red time,

Height of the triangle,

Area of the triangle, (UD)

Delay

C 1 g c
2

Average delay per vehicle, UD=

2 1 v s
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Different types of delay

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Websters optimum cycle length

developed based on minimization of overall delay
at the intersection.
Delay
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Websters optimum cycle length

Delay
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Signal Timing Designs

1. Development of a phase plan and sequence
2. Timing of yellow and all-red intervals for each phase.
3. Determination of cycle length.
4. Green time distribution.
5. Checking pedestrian crossing requirements.

Safety (conflict avoidance) and the quality of service are the most important
factors in designing signals.
The process is not exact, nor is there often a single right design and timing
for a traffic control signal.
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Phase diagram and ring diagram

 Lecture 3

Phase diagram and ring diagram

A ring of a controller generally controls one set of signal faces. Thus, while a
phase involving two opposing through movements would be shown in one
block of a phase diagram, each movement would be separately shown in a
ring diagram.
Lecture 3
 Lecture 3

Right turn protection

If vRT (Volume of right turning vehicles)<100 vph protection is rarely used
vRT 250 to 300 vph protection is almost always used
Between these bounds, the provision of RT protection must consider opposing
volumes and number of lanes, accident experience, system signal constraints, etc.
Two general guidelines:
vRT 200 vph
vRT *(vO / No) 50,000 (Cross product rule)
[vO: Opposing flow volume; NO: Opposing no. of lanes]
Protected+permitted phase is used when full protection leads to undesirably long
cycle length

When exclusive right-turn phases are used, the two opposing right-turns are given
the same amount of green time. This can be inefficient where the turning
volumes are different. In these cases, the exclusive turning phase is split into
leading and/or lagging green phases.
 Lecture 3

Splitting the exclusive RT phase

One direction is released while the other is held. The following type of phasing
is called overlapping phases.
The ring diagram is used to calculate the number of phases. The number is
decided by counting the phases boundaries in the ring diagram.
This plan is a 3 phase signal

Leading green for EB RT

Overlapping phase

Lagging green for WB RT

compound phase if RTs

are permitted.
 Lecture 3

Leading or lagging green phase

The possible options of using leading or lagging phases:

A leading green may be used without a lagging green (T-intersection or one-

way street)
The correct phase plan i.e. the number of phases can be found out from the
ring diagram
No. of phases is critical as that specifies the set of lost times to be calculated
A compound phasing can be created by allowing permitted RTs in the
overlapping phase. This is specially useful when road geometry do not allow
for an exclusive RT lane.
Leading and lagging phase controllers are no longer manufactured by NEMA.
But this type of design is still in use.
 Lecture 3
Intergreen/Change/Clearance Period
Intergreen consists of either yellow or (yellow + all-red) periods. It alerts
motorists regarding the change from green to red light.
When yellow light appears, drivers at a distance longer than their stopping
distance will be able to stop comfortably; those who are nearer to the stop
line than their safe stopping distance will accelerate and clear the
intersection.
For the case of stopping: xc is the minimum comfortable stopping distance.
Any shorter, it would be uncomfortable, unsafe, or impossible.
 Lecture 3
Intergreen/Change/Clearance Period
The intergreen time is,

(x+W+L)/v
x: safe stopping distance
L: vehicle length
v: Vehicle legal speed
 Lecture 3
Intergreen/Change/Clearance Period
For a particular site, the relative magnitudes of
the two critical distances xc, xo determine
whether a vehicle can or cannot safely execute
either or both manoeuvres. (fig. a-c)
In the fig. a, xcxo , the driver can execute
manoeuvre no matter where the vehicle is
located at the onset of yellow. where xc> xo (fig.
c), a dilemma zone of (xc-xo) exists: a vehicle
approaching the intersection at the legal speed
limit can execute neither stop nor go safely,
legally, and comfortably if it happens to be
located within the dilemma zone at the onset of
yellow.
The dilemma zone can be eliminated either by
changing the speed limit or by selecting an
appropriate minimum duration for the yellow
signal phase that results in xc=xo
 Lecture 3

Pedestrian requirements
Safety dictates some minimum assured crossing times for pedestrians. This in turn
impacts vehicular traffic
Minimum pedestrian crossing times (pedestrian green)

Diagram for Gp calculation,

 Lecture 3
The methodology for establishing an initial signal
timing is as follows:
1. Develop a reasonable signal phase plan in accordance with the principles
discussed so far. DO NOT include any compound phasing in the
preliminary signal timing. Consider a protected right-turn phase for any
right-turning movement
2. Convert all left-turning and right-turning volumes to through car
equivalents (tcu's) using Tables 1 and 2.
 Lecture 3
3. Establish a reasonable phase plan using the principles discussed so far.
Determine the actual sum of critical lane volumes, Vco using this plan. Use
volumes in tcu's for this purpose. Check the sum of critical lane volumes in
tcu's for reasonableness. Make any adjustments necessary.

4. Using following equation,

NtL 3N
Cdes
Vc Vc
1 1
PHF (v / c)(3600 / h) 1615PHF (v / c)
determine the desirable cycle length based on a desired vlc (0.85-0.90) ratio
and the PHF

5. Once the cycle length is determined, the available effective green time in
the cycle must be divided (split) among the various signal phases in
proportion to Vci/Vc.
gTOT C L
V
g i gTOT * ci
Vc
 Lecture 3

Capacity Analysis
In capacity analysis the substantive results of signalized intersection analysis
are realized for first time.
1. Determining v/s ratios: The volume or total flow rates adjusted for the
PHF and lane distribution. The total saturation flow rates for each lane group,
adjusted for eight types of prevailing conditions. The capacity analysis begins
by computing the ratio of these results (v/s) for each lane group.
2. Determining critical lane groups and the sum of critical lane v/s ratios:
Critical lane groups are determined by comparing adjusted per lane flows in
each lane group using a ring diagram. Critical lane groups are identified by
comparing v/s ratios. The approach and methodology is the same as done by
comparing lane flows. Ring diagrams are used to identify overlapping
portions of the signal phase. The (v/s)ci is used to calculate min practical
cycle time. (shown with example in next two slides)
But at this stage, the signal timing has already been specified. Thus, there is
an iterative process at work in which signal timing affects v/s ratios, while
resulting v/s ratios can be used to affect signal timing.
 Lecture 3

Capacity Analysis
 Lecture 3

Capacity Analysis
The total length of phases A and B is controlled either by the left ring (the WB
through movement), or by the right ring (the combination of the WB left turn
and the EB through/right-turn movement).The v/s ratio for the WB through
movement, 0.45, is compared to the sum of the v/s ratios for the WB left turn
and the EB through/right-turn movements, 0.20 + 0.35 = 0.55. The right ring
involves the highest sum of v/s ratios, and is the critical path. Phase C is
discrete. The larger v/s ratio for the two lane groups in the phase determines
which is critical. In this case, the NB right-turn lane group is critical, with a v/s
ratio of 0.35.
Thus, the critical lane groups are the WB LT, the EB TH/RT, and the NB RT. As
there are three critical movements (there could have been only two in this
case), this signalization involves three sets of lost times in each cycle.
The sum of the critical lane group v/s ratios, (v/s)ci may also be determined.
In the sample case, the sum is 0.20 + 0.35 + 0.35 = 0.90. Hence, the signal
timing must allocate 0.90 of real time as effective green. Conversely, only 1 -
0.90 = 0.10 of real time is available to allocate to lost times. If (v/s)ci value is
greater than 1.00, it is clear that the specified geometric design and
signalization are inadequate to handle the specified demand flows.
 Lecture 3

Capacity Analysis
3. Determining lane group capacities and v/c ratios: Individual lane group
capacities can be determined from saturation flow rates and v/c ratios can
then be directly computed by dividing the lane group demand flow rate by
the capacity. The critical v/c ratio for the intersection may also be found.

A value of Xc> 1.00 indicates that the cycle length, phase plan, and geometry
specified are inadequate to handle critical flows in the intersection. An
increase in the cycle length, a more efficient phase plan, and/or addition of
lanes to critical lane groups would be necessary to remedy the situation. If
Xc<= 1.00, the specified cycle length, phase plan, and geometry are adequate.
If Xc>= 1.00, and Xi for one or more lane groups is greater than 1.00, the
situation can be remedied by reallocation of green time within the specified
cycle length and phase plan.
 Lecture 3

Capacity Analysis
4. Modifying signal timing based on v/s ratios: The results of capacity analysis
may indicate a need to adjust the cycle length and/or reallocate green time.
While this can be done on a trial-and-error basis, v/s ratios can be used as well.
The following equation can be used in this purpose.

In general, green is allocated to provide for equal Xi in all critical lane groups.
To accomplish this, each Xi for a critical lane group must be set equal to Xc It is
also possible to set Xi to 1.00 (or close to 1.00) for minor movements, such as a
protected right turn, assigning all excess green time to through movements.
This policy almost always results in very high delays to the minor movements,
however.
The design process is iterative. If a reasonable signal timing methodology is
used initially, specified signal timings should not produce terribly unreasonable
results. Even where totally inadequate signal timing is initially proposed, the
timing can be refined with capacity analysis, and the solution reworked. Once a
reasonable timing is established, small trial-and-error changes using software
should result in optimal timing without extraordinary effort.
 Lecture 3

LOS
The measure of effectiveness for signalized intersection level of service is
average individual stopped-time delay. A delay value is estimated for each
lane group; results are then aggregated to obtain averages for each
approach, and finally to obtain an average value for the intersection as a
whole.
 Lecture 3

LOS
In order of importance, the three variables affecting delay are cycle length,
green time, and v/c ratio. All of the models, assume random arrivals. The
variable having the largest impact on delay values is the quality of
progression. This is accounted for using an adjustment factor applied to a
delay estimate for random arrivals. The importance of this is that the v/c
ratio has a relatively small effect on delay compared to other variables.

In signalized intersection analysis, a delay of over 60 seconds/vehicle (LOS F)

may occur on a lane group with a v/c ratio under 1.00, even significantly so.
Thus, situations arise in which the LOS is F because of high delay, but there is
no evidence of a breakdown in flow. High delays occur frequently when cycle
lengths are long and the green time for the subject movement is short.
Exclusive right-turn phases, for example, often involve short green intervals
in a long cycle length. Even if capacity is sufficient, the delays involved could
exceed 60 seconds/vehicle. For signalized intersections, therefore, LOS F does
not necessarily imply the "failure" of a lane group (i.e., insufficient capacity
for existing or projected demand).