Signalized Intersections

• Signalized intersections are an example for

interrupted flow facilities in which external
control plays a major role in defining the traffic
flow characteristics.
• Poorly designed traffic signals can result in
unnecessary and excessive delays.
• If appropriately (good) designed, a traffic
control signal can provide for the orderly
movement of traffic and can increase the traffic
handling capacity of an intersection.
• Traffic signals can generally be divided into two
groups:
1. Pretimed signals: they are typically insensitive to
current volumes. The cycle length of them is
generally fixed, regardless of the current volumes.
But one could still have a range of timing plans for
different time periods within a day. Typically, one
would have a timing plan for handling the morning
peak period or rush hour, another for evening peak,
and a third for the off-peak period.
2. Actuated signals: the operation of actuated
controllers varies according to the observed
volume. Actuated controllers thus need to be
connected to traffic detectors for sensing traffic
demand.
• The use of pretimed controllers is most
appropriate when traffic conditions do not vary
significantly within the different peak periods.

• Only pretimed controllers will be discussed.

• Signalized intersections are recommended

to use when:
 2-way HV on major ≥ 500 veh/h and on minor ≥ 300 veh/h
 2-way HV on major ≥ 750 veh/h and on minor ≥ 150 veh/h
 :Important definitions
• Indication: is one color of the traffic signal. (the green
is indication, the yellow is indication,…).
• Cycle: is a rotation through all the signal indications at
a given intersection.
• cycle length: the total time for the signal to complete
one cycle (given the symbol C and usually expressed
in seconds).

Every legal movement would generally receive the

“green” indication only once during a given cycle.

The time it takes for the signal to go through one cycle

of indications is the cycle length.
• Phase: a set of indications (i.e., green and yellow
intervals) during which a given set of movement is
assigned the right of way. The number of phases for
signalized intersections typically ranges between
two and four phases. For a two-phase signal, one
would typically have one phase dedicated to traffic
movements from the east and west approaches and
another for the north and south movements. The sum
of the phase lengths (in seconds) is the cycle length.
 Signal Timing Principles
We need first to discuss the following:
1. The mechanism by which vehicles discharge
from a queue waiting at a traffic signal.
2. The time lost in the process.
3. The concept of the capacity of a given
intersection approach.
Discharge headway and saturation flow rate
• Headway: is the interval between the time one vehicle
crosses the stop bar and the time the following vehicle
crosses.
• Queue: is a line of vehicles.
• Saturation headway (h): the time that each vehicle
consumes to enter the intersection when its value
becomes constant. sec/veh.
Observation of the way vehicles discharge from
a queue have revealed that if the recorded
discharge headway are plotted against the
vehicle position in the queue, a graph similar to
figure below is obtained.
Saturation flow rate (s): is the maximum hourly
volume that can pass through an intersection, from a
given lane or group of lanes, if that lane (or lanes) were
allocated constant green over the course of an hour. So,
It is the total number of vehicles entering in an hour
through the green light. veh/hr green/lane (veh/hg/ln).
i.e.,

It is the total number of vehicles passing stop

bar in an hour if we assume that:
1. The signal remains green all time.
2. There are enough vehicles waiting in the
queue.
3. Each vehicle consumes h sec to enter the
intersection.
This figure explains the mechanism by which
vehicles depart from a signalized intersection
when it turns green.
The first few headways are relatively long, then
after the fourth or fifth vehicle, the discharge
headways typically level out toward a constant
value. This value is known as saturation
headway and represents the average headway
that can be achieved by a saturated, stable
moving queue of vehicles, or the maximum rate
at which vehicles can depart from a stop bar,
provided that there are vehicles waiting in the
queue. The saturation headway is often
denoted by h and is typically in range of 2-3
sec/veh.
 If we assume that that th signal remains green all the
time and that we have enough vehicles waiting in the
queue and that each one consumes h seconds to
enter the intersection (i.e., the saturation discharge
headway), the total number of vehicles entering in an
hour (i.e., the saturation flow rate) can be computed
easily as: 3600
s 4-9
Where:
h
s= saturation flow rate (veh/hg/lane)
h= saturation headway (sec/veh).
We will discuss later how to account for the fact that at a
signalized intersection, each approach gets the green
only during a fraction of the total cycle length.
Total lost time and effective green time
tL  l1  l2
• In equation 4-9, we have assumed that vehicles enter
the intersection every h seconds. In reality, the
average headway is greater than h. as figure 4-3
shows, for the first four or five vehicles, the headway
is actually greater than h, since the drivers of those
first four or five vehicles typically require more reaction
time in order to accelerate.
Let us denote the difference between the actual
headway for those first vehicles and the saturation
headway by di. The sum of these di’s would give us
what we call the start-up lost time l1. this represents
the time lost at the beginning of each phase (i.e.,
when the signal turns green) as a result of the
additional reaction time required by the first four or five
vehicles in a queue.
• In addition to the start-up lost time, which occurs each
time a queue starts moving, there is some time lost
towards the end of the phase (when the signal is
about to turn red). This time is called the clearance
lost time l2.
• To understand why we need to account for l2:
typically, a signal for a given approach goes through
the following sequence of intervals:
1- green.
2- yellow.
3- all-red (this is typically a 1-second interval in which
the signal indications for all approaches at an
intersection are red to ensure the clearance of the
intersection before the initiation of the green for a
second approach).
4- red.
• Vehicles from a given intersection approach
would therefore normally move during all of the
green and part of the yellow or the clearance
interval. The part of the yellow that is not
utilized by vehicles plus the all-red interval
where everybody is stopped represents time
lost, and this is the time that l2 is designed
to capture. Therefore, the total lost time/phase
(tL) is thus equal to the start-up lost time plus
the clearance lost time, as follows:
tL  l1  l2
4-11
• Effective green time gi: it is the time during
which vehicles are effectively moving at the rate
of one every h seconds.
C  g i  ri
ri  R i  t L
g i  G i  Yi  t Li
Where:
gi= effective green time for phase i.
Gi=actual green time for phase i.
Yi=duration of the yellow interval.
tLi=total lost time during phase i.
 Capacity of a given lane
• The saturation flow rate (s) gives us the
capacity of a single lane on a given intersection
approach, assuming that that approach gets a
green indication all the time.
• For a signalized intersection, each approach
typically gets green only during a certain
fraction of the total cycle length. Therefore, if a
given approach has an effective green time
period equal to gi, and if the total cycle length is
C sec, the capacity of that approach is equal to:
gi
ci  s i 4-13
C
 Where:
ci=capacity of lane i (veh/hr).
si=saturation flow rate for lane i (veh/hg).
gi=effective green time for lane i (sec).
C=cycle length (sec).
Capacity for approach (or for whole lane group) =
ci*(number of approach lanes).
• (group of lanes that move together during a
given phase and have similar operating
characteristics).
• Capacity for signalized intersection as a whole
(not for single approach) will be discussed.
Example 4-3
Problem 4-14
 The time budget and the critical lane
concepts
• Developing signal timing plan is based on two
concepts:
1- the time budget concept: is concerned with
allocating the available time among the competing
vehicular and pedestrian streams at an intersection.
2- critical lane concept: The critical lane concept
states that during any given phase, while several
traffic approaches are allowed to move, one particular
movement will require the largest amount of time.
That particular movement is referred to as the critical
lane for that given phase.
Satisfying the needs of the critical lane movement
would automatically satisfy the needs of all other
accompanying movements.
• In figure 4-4, we assume that the six movements for
the eastbound EB and westbound WB take place at
the same time (i.e., in one phase) and a second phase
is dedicated for the northbound NB and southbound
SB. Also we assume that we have one lane available
for each of these 12 movements (i.e., one lane for the
left-turning movement, another for the through, and a
third for the right from each approach) and that three
lanes are similar in terms of their ability to
accommodate traffic volumes.
• The phase serving the EB and WB movements needs
to be designed so as to satisfy the needs of the
heaviest or most intense movement (i.e., it should be
enough to accommodate that volume), which in this
case is the 550 veh/hr volume. So, the needs of the
other lesser volumes would be automatically satisfied.
• The NB and SB phase needs to be designed
for the 450 veh/hr lane, since this is the most
intense volume moving in this second phase.
• We can say: the critical lane for phase 1 is the
one carrying the 550 veh/hr volume, and the
critical lane for phase 2 is the lane with the 450
veh/hr volume.
• Therefore, for the intersection shown in figure
4-4, the available time should be allocated to
the vehicle in the critical lane for phase 1 and
those in the critical lane for phase 2 while
accounting for the time lost in each phase.
 Signalized Intersection Capacity
• Intersection capacity: is the maximum sum of critical
lane volumes that a signalized intersection can
accommodate.
• To determine this value:
first: we must determine the time available to allocate
for these movements in an hour (by omitting the time
lost in each signal cycle.
the total lost time/cycle is computed as:
L=N x tL
Where:
L=lost time/cycle (sec/cycle).
N=number of phases in the cycle.
tL=total lost time/phase as defined previously
(sec/phase).
The total lost time in one hour LH : is the product
of lost time per cycle (L) and number of cycles
per hour (3600/C):
LH= L x 3600/C = N x tL x (3600/C) 4-15
Therefore the time available for allocation, TG is:
TG= 3600- LH= 3600 - N x tL x (3600/C) 4-16

second: dividing this time by discharge headway

immediately yields the maximum sum of critical
lane volumes that the intersection can
accommodate Vc:
Vc= TG / h = 1/h {3600 - N x tL x (3600/C)} 4-17
 Applications
• Determining the maximum sum of critical
volumes at an intersection.
• Determining the number of lanes at an
intersection.
• Determining the minimum cycle length.
• Determining the desirable cycle length.

Examples: 4-4 , 4-5, and 4-6.

Example 4-4
Example 4-5
Example 4-6
Problem 4-15
 Problem 4-16

tL=3.5 sec/phase
 Desirable cycle length
• From equation 4-17, we can determine the minimum
cycle length:
1  3600   3600  N  t L  3600
Vc   3600  N  t L  
 C    N  t L  
C    3600  Vc .h  C min 
h  min   min  (3600  Vc .h )

N  tL
C min 
 Vc 
1  
 3600 / h 
-This equation doesn’t account for the within-the-hour
variations of traffic volume (PHF).
- This equation assumes that 100% of capacity is
utilized, but most signals are timed so that between 80
and 95% of the capacity available is utilized i.e., ν/c.
So, the previous equation become:
 N  tL
Cdes 
 Vc 
1  
 (3600 / h )  PHF  ( / c ) 

Where:
Cdes=desirable cycle length as opposed to the
minimum cycle length of equation 4-17
PHF=peak hour factor.
ν/c=desired volume to capacity ratio.
Problem 4-17
Problem 4-19
 Webster Delay Model
• For isolated intersections, Delay: is commonly
the measure of effectiveness used to
characterize how well the intersection is
performing.
• Webster’s model is a cumulative plot for the
way vehicles arrive and depart at the
intersection as shown in figure 4-8.
• It is assumed that vehicles arrive at a uniform
rate of flow, namely v (veh/unit time). This gives
straight line with a slope v for the vehicles’
arrival curve.
• For departure, during the effective red period,
no vehicles can depart, and therefore the
departure curve during the red period takes the
form of a horizontal line (0 vehicles departing).
• As soon as the signal turns green, the queue of
vehicles that was formed during the red period
starts discharging at a rate equal to the
discharge headway or saturation flow rate, s
veh/hr.
• Discharge at the saturation flow rate continues
until the queue is dissipated (i.e., the point
where the arrival curve meets with the
departure curve).
• After that point, vehicles start discharging at a
rate equal to their arrival rate.
• Note that (in the figure):
- the vertical difference between the arrival and
departure curves at time t, (i.e., Q(t)), gives us
number of vehicles waiting in the queue at the
intersection.
- the horizontal difference between the two
curves, (W(i), gives us the time that a vehicle i
spends waiting in the queue.
• Given this, the total or aggregate delay for all
vehicles processed by the signal is given by the
area of the shaded triangle.
Aggregate delay=1/2 r.V where:
r= the length of the effective red period.
V= the total number of vehicles delayed at the
intersection.
Typically, traffic models are expressed in terms of
the effective green not the red. So,
r= C-g = C(1-g/C)
From figure: V=v.(r+Tc)=s.Tc► r+Tc=(s/v).Tc
r=Tc(s/v-1)►Tc=r/(s/v-1)
• Therefore: s.r   .s    g    .s 
V  s.Tc   r   C 1     
s
(  1)  s      C    s   

2
1 2   g    .s 
The aggregate delay= 1/2r.V= C 1    
2   C   s   

The average delay/vehicle= The aggregate

delay / number of vehicles processed per cycle
(i.e., v.C). So:
2
 g
 1 
1 C
Averagedel ay  C 
2  
1  s 
• That equation can be expressed in terms of the
capacity of an intersection approach, c, instead
of the saturation flow rate,s, by noting that c=s.
(g/C):
2
 g
1 
1  C
Averagedel ay  C
2   g    
1   C . c 
    
C=cycle length in seconds.
c=the approach capacity in veh/hr.
Level of service for signalized
intersections
Example 4-7
Problem 4-18
 Problem 1
• An approach at a pretimed signalized
intersection has a saturation flow rate of 2400
veh/h and is allocated 24 seconds of effective
green in an 80-second signal cycle. If the flow
at the approach is 500 veh/h, Determine:
1. The total vehicle delay per cycle.
2. The average delay per vehicle.
3. The LOS for this approach.
4. The maximum number of vehicles in the
queue.
5. The maximum delay of any vehicle, assuming
a FIFO queuing discipline.
 Problem 2
• An approach to a pretimed signalized
intersection has a saturation flow rate of 1700
veh/h. the signal’s cycle length is 60 seconds
and the approach’s effective red is 40 seconds.
During three consecutive cycles 15, 8, and 4
vehicles arrive. Determine the total vehicle
delay over three cycles.

• (Draw the cumulative plot and calculate the

coordinates of the important points)
• Note: the time axis will begin by effective red.
 Webster Formula for the Optimal
Cycle Length
• Based in minimizing the approach delay at a
signalized intersection, Webster derived this
formula for determining the optimal cycle length
C0:
1.5L  5
C0  N
1   Yi
i 1

Yi
gi  N
.(C  L)
Y
i 1
i
 where:
Co=optimal cycle length in seconds.
N=number of phases.
L=total lost time/cycle, which is equal to the number of
phases (N) multiplied by the lost time/phase (tL).
Yi=maximum value of the ratios of the approach flows to
the saturation flow rates for all lane groups using
phase i. therefore Yi gives the ratios of the critical lane
volume to the saturation flow rate and is computed
from: Y  max{ / s }
i ij j
 ij
= traffic volume on lane group j having the right-of-
way during phase i.
s j = saturation flow rate on lane group j.
Example 4-8
Problem 4-20
 Problem 4-21

Then Determine the time of indications of all phases and

draw the signal diagram. Assume Y1=2 s and Y2=1 s
 Problem
• The figure below shows the intersection of
Maple and Vine streets.
• The peak-hour traffic volumes are shown
in the figure.
• The saturation flow rates are given too.
• The signal phasing plan of the intersection
is shown too.
• Calculate the optimal cycle length for the
intersection.
Signal phasing plan for the intersection
of Maple and Vine streets
Saturation Flow Rates
 Important Notes
• At-grade Intersection: at-grade crossing of two
or more roadways.
• Approach consists of a lane or group of lanes
through which vehicles enter the intersection.
• Lane group is an individual lane or multiple
lanes which are grouped based on the allowed
movements (left, through, right) within each lane
and the sequencing of allowed movements by
the traffic signal.
In this figure:
• Approach 1:
• a lane for the exclusive use of left turns,
• a lane for the exclusive use of right turns, and
• two lanes for the exclusive use of through movements.
• Approach 3 like approach 1, but:
• Right turns share the outside lane with the through
movements.
Note:
• Turn bays, hold a limited number of
queued vehicles.
• Queuing analysis used to determine the
length of bay necessary to prevent:
• Spillover queued turning vehicles overflowing the
bay and blocking the through lanes and/or
• Spillback queued through vehicles blocking the
entrance of the turn bay (known as spillback).
• Approach 2:
• consists of a shared through/right-turn lane and an exclusive
left turn lane (not a bay in this case because it extends
upstream).
• Approach 4:
• is similar to approach 2, but the inside lane is a shared
through/left-turn lane.
 Calculating Change and Clearance
Intervals
C=G+Y1+R+Y2 : Yi=Y1+Y2=3 to 5 sec (typically)

Change Interval Clearance Interval (ALL-Red)

The change interval alerts drivers that the green interval is about
to end and that they should come to stop before entering the
intersection, or continue through the intersection if they are too
close to come to a safe stop.

The clearance interval allows for those vehicles that might have
entered the intersection at the end of the yellow to clear the
intersection before conflicting traffic movements are given a
• Y1: is the time required for passing
braking distance at constant speed u + the
perception reaction time (1 sec).
• Y2: is the time required for passing the
width of cross street and the car length.
 u
Y1  1 
6  2 g.G

W L
Y2 
u
• Where:
W- The width of the cross street (m).
L - The car length (m).
u - Design speed (m/sec).
 Example
• Determine the change and clearance
times for vehicles traveling on Vine and
Maple streets.
 Check Pedestrian Crossing Time
• The minimum pedestrian green time is:
L
G p  3.2   (0.27  N ped ) for WE  3m
Sp
L N ped
G p  3.2   (0.82  ) for WE  3m
Sp WE
Where :
G p  min imum pedestrian green time . (sec).
3.2  pedestrian start  up time. (sec).
L  crosswalk length . (m).
S p  Walking speed of pedestrian s  1.2m / sec( 4.3km / hr )
N ped  Number of pedestrian s cros sin g during an int erval .
WE  Effective crosswalk width. (m).
 Example
• Determine the minimum amount of pedestrian
green time required for the intersection of Vine
and Maple streets. Assume maximum of 15
pedestrians crossing either street during any
one phase and crosswalk width of 2.44 m.
Note:
• Safety considerations normally preclude yellow
intervals (Yi=Y1+Y2) of less than 3 seconds and to
encourage motorists’ respect for the yellow interval, it
is usually not made longer than 5 seconds. i.e., Yi
must be between 3 and 5 seconds.

• When longer yellow intervals are required as

computed from the two equations (Y1 and Y2), an all-
red phase can be inserted to follow the yellow
indication.

• The change interval Yi, yellow plus all-red, must be at

least the value computed from equation Y1+Y2
 Questions
• Define these words: Indication- cycle
length- Phase- Saturation headway -
Saturation flow rate –
• What are the three assumptions that are
used in calculating Saturation flow rate at
signalized intersections?