Estimation of Saturation Flow Rate and Start-Up Lost Time for Signal Timing Based on Headway Distribution. (10th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhao, Yi; Zhang, Wenbo; Lu, Jian; Zhang, Wenjun; Ma, Yongfeng
• Other Names: Medina Rigoberto Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Discrete dynamics in nature and society. Volume 2015(2015)
• Publication Date: 2015-08-10
• Subjects: System analysis -- Periodicals; Dynamics -- Periodicals; Chaotic behavior in systems -- Periodicals; Differentiable dynamical systems -- Periodicals; 003.05
• DOI: 10.1155/2015/304823
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1026-0226

Abstract

Abstract : This study aimed to calibrate saturation flow rate (SFR) and start-up lost time (SLT) when developing signal timing. In current commonly used methods, SFR for one given lane is usually calibrated from many subjective adjustment factors and a fixed result. SLT is calculated based on the fixed SFR, which prevents local applications in China. Considering the importance of traffic behavior (headway) in determining SFR and SLT, this study started from headway distribution and attempted to specify the relationships between headway and vehicle position directly. A common intersection in Nanjing, China, was selected to implement field study and data from 920 queues was collected. Headway distribution was explored and the 78th percentile of headway at each position was selected to build model. Based on the developed relationships, SFR and SLT were calibrated. The results showed that SFR and SLT were correlated with queue length. Moreover, the results showed that it was difficult to reach saturated state even with a long queue length. This paper provides a new perspective on calibrating important parameters in signal timing, which will be useful for traffic agencies to complete signal timing by making the process simpler.