Many believe that there is little room for improvement in the signal timing optimization process. To the contrary, recent advances imply that the current practice is far from perfected. Rapidly evolving intelligent transportation system technologies are not close to being used to their full potential. Multimodalism and "complete streets" are hot topics within the Institute of Transportation Engineers, but their connection to signal optimization is not being made. Advances in optimization theory have not yet made an impact on signal timing. Computer speeds have increased exponentially, making it possible to deploy optimization methods that are much more powerful and much more computationally expensive. Alternative intersection designs are going viral, but the research on optimizing these facilities has only just begun. Finally, connected and autonomous vehicles could drastically improve traffic flow and traffic safety, but they may upset the way that transportation engineers traditionally do their jobs. This article discusses four emerging areas of signal timing optimization: data-driven performance measures, improved heuristic methods, alternative intersection and interchange methods, and multimodal intelligent traffic signal systems.
Emerging Methods of Signal Timing Optimization
ITE journal ; 85 , 8
2015
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Englisch
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