Optimal traffic signal settings—I. Criterion for undersaturation of a signalized intersection and optimal signal setting

Abstract This paper deals with an optimal signal setting of a fixed-cycle traffic signal based upon a new criterion of minimizing a degree of saturation of a signalized intersection. As preliminaries, a criterion for undersaturation of the signalized intersection is derived as the degree of saturation of the signalized intersection and mean effective green times of streams of lower priorities are determined as linear functions of the green times and the cycle time. It is shown that the criterion of minimizing the degree of saturation of the signalized intersection leads to the well-known rule of thumb for optimal split. Other several results for the optimal signal setting are obtained in case of nonoverlapping phases. The optimal signal setting problem can be solved respectively by linear programming in case of nonoverlapping or overlapping phases and by mixed-integer programming in case of generalized overlapping phases.

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