Analysis of Off-Peak Traffic Signal Operations

A traffic signal plays a major role in the overall safety and efficiency of traffic operations at an intersection. The type of operation strategy and signal timings utilized is typically based on the designed operation of the intersection at a desired Level of Service during peak traffic conditions. However, the same strategy could cause extensive vehicle delay as well as safety and security problems when lower traffic volumes are present.The main objective of this study is to define the existing off-peak issues and propose solutions to mitigate those issues. It also entails an evaluation of different traffic signal operation strategies which can be deployed to mitigate the off-peak issues. Computer simulation was utilized to optimize volumes ranging from 5 to 30 percent of peak traffic volumes on one hypothetical and two real intersections. All results showed drastic improvement on such measures of effectiveness as delay per vehicle, average speed, emission, and number of stops.