Evaluation of Lane-by-Lane Detection at Signalized Intersections Using Simulation

摘要

The paper provided analyses of an emerging lane-by-lane detection scheme at signalized intersections. Unlike the current single-channel detection where all the detectors across all the lanes on a particular approach are connected to the same signal phase, the lane-by-lane detection monitors the headways/gaps on a lane-by-lane basis. Lane-by-lane detection is expected to provide more efficient detection by gapping out the phase when the vehicle queues have discharged, thus can improve the efficiency of traffic signal operations. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of lane-by-lane detection schemes, a traffic simulation model was developed in VISSIM to simulate lane-by-lane detection. Several scenarios were analyzed that included different factors such as traffic volume, maximum allowable headway, and number of lanes. The Vehicle Actuated Programming module within VISSIM was used to code the signal control logic for both the lane-by-lane detection scheme and the traditional single-channel detection scheme. The measures of effectiveness used in the evaluation included vehicle delays and the percentage of cycles when the actuated phases reached maximum. Results from extensive simulation runs indicated that lane-by-lane detection was more efficient than single-channel detection under moderate traffic volumes. For analysis on maximum allowable headway (MAH), the average delay improvement using a 2.5-second MAH was similar to the 3.0- second result. Lane-by-lane detection was also more efficient when more lanes existed on an intersection approach.