Date of Award
Fall 1998
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
First Advisor
Kuemmel, David A.
Second Advisor
Sonntag, Ronald
Third Advisor
Bryson, Robert
Abstract
Historically traffic signals have been interconnected to reduce congestion, intersection delay, fuel consumption and pollution while improving traffic flow and the level of service of a roadway. Never has signal coordination been more important than now. Many communities are confronted with an increased growth in travel demand resulting from increased trip generation, longer trip lengths, greater vehicle ownership and increased development coupled with budgetary constraints. In other instances it is necessary for parallel arterial routes to accommodate diverted traffic from other routes due to planned events such as major construction projects, or unplanned events such as an accident. Often the addition of lanes to increase capacity is not a plausible solution due to political or environmental influences. One obvious means of handling overburdened roadways is to efficiently interconnect traffic signals thereby creating a coordinated signal system. This research presents guidance for selecting the most appropriate mode of operation for a suburban arterial signal system with speeds of 45 - 50 mph and signal spacing of approximately 1/2 mile.