A real-time traffic control method for the intersection with pre-signals under the phase swap sorting strategy

Area of Science:

• Traffic Engineering
• Intelligent Transportation Systems
• Operations Research

Background:

• Tandem intersections with pre-signals present unique traffic flow challenges.
• Existing phase swap strategies have limitations, particularly regarding vehicles remaining in the sorting area.
• Current signal control methods often use fixed timing plans, failing to adapt to traffic fluctuations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the limitations of current phase swap strategies at tandem intersections.
• To develop an adaptive signal control system for tandem intersections.
• To minimize vehicle delay and queue length through optimized signal timing.

Main Methods:

• In-depth analysis of traffic flow operations at tandem intersections.
• Deployment of loop detectors for real-time vehicle data acquisition.
• Optimization of signal control parameters using dynamic programming, considering lane selection behavior.

Main Results:

• The proposed adaptive signalization effectively manages traffic flow at tandem intersections.
• Numerical experiments demonstrate significant reductions in average vehicle delay.
• Maximum queue lengths were also reduced across various traffic scenarios.

Conclusions:

• The developed adaptive signal control strategy overcomes limitations of fixed-timing and basic phase swap methods.
• Real-time data integration and dynamic programming enable efficient traffic management at tandem intersections.
• The approach offers a viable solution for enhancing intersection discharge capacity and reducing congestion.