राष्ट्रीय प्रौद्योगिकी सं स्थान जमशेदपु र
National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur
Jharkhand-831014 (INDIA)
(An autonomous institute under the aegis of Ministry of Education, Govt. of India)
Traffic Signal Design
The increasing of traffic volume at our intersection has been arise a problems like road
accidents, conflicts and congestions. These problems can solved by providing an efficient
traffic signal control at the intersection for continuous and efficient movement of vehicles
through the intersection.
Definitions and notations: A number of definitions and notations need to be understood in
signal design. They are discussed below:
Cycle: A signal cycle is one complete rotation through all of the indications provided.
Cycle length: Cycle length is the time in seconds that it takes a signal to complete one full
cycle of indications. It indicates the time interval between the starting of green for one approach
till the next time the green starts. It is denoted by C.
Interval: Thus it indicates the change from one stage to another. There are two types of
intervals - change interval and clearance interval. Change interval is also called the yellow time
indicates the interval between the green and red signal indications for an approach. Clearance
interval is also called all red is included after each yellow interval indicating a period during
which all signal faces show red and is used for clearing off the vehicles in the intersection.
Green interval: It is the green indication for a particular movement or set of movements and
is denoted by 𝐺𝑖. This is the actual duration the green light of a traffic signal is turned on.
Red interval: It is the red indication for a particular movement or set of movements and is
denoted by 𝑅𝑖. This is the actual duration the red light of a traffic signal is turned on.
Phase: A phase is the green interval plus the change and clearance intervals that follow it.
Thus, during green interval, non-conflicting movements are assigned into each phase. It allows
a set of movements to flow and safely halt the flow before the phase of another set of
movements start.
Lost time: It indicates the time during which the intersection is not effectively utilized for any
movement. For example, when the signal for an approach turns from red to green, the driver of
the vehicle which is in the front of the queue, will take some time to perceive the signal (usually
called as reaction time) and some time will be lost here before he moves.
Saturation Flow (S): This indicates the number of vehicles passing an intersection with
minimum headway during the whole of a ‘green’ period. For new signal installations, the RRL
recommends the use of the following formula for determining saturation flow
S = 525 𝑤 passenger car units (PCU) per hour
Where, S = Saturation flow w = Width of approach road in metros.
1
राष्ट्रीय प्रौद्योगिकी सं स्थान जमशेदपु र
National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur
Jharkhand-831014 (INDIA)
(An autonomous institute under the aegis of Ministry of Education, Govt. of India)
Methods for the Design of Traffic Signals: The following methods are commonly used for
the design of traffic signals: (a) Trial cycle method (b) Webster’s minimum delay method.
Webster’s method is a rational approach for signal design. The design is simple and is totally
based on formulae’s laid down by Webster. In this method, the total cycle of the signal is
determined which forms a total least delay occurring at signal.
The steps in the design procedure are:
1) The saturation flow of traffic, S1, S2,… on the approach roads are obtained from field studies
by noting the number of vehicles in the stream of flow during the green aspects and the
corresponding time intervals.
2) In the absence of data, the values are determined using RRL recommendations already given
under the definition for ‘saturation flow’. S = 525 w passenger car units (PCU) per hour
3) The normal flows q1, q2, … on the approach roads, during the design peak hour traffic are
also obtained from field observations
4) The ratios y1 = q1/S1, y2 = q2/S2, … are calculated.
5) The optimum signal cycle, CO, is given by
1.5𝐿 + 5
𝐶𝑜 =
1−𝑌
Here, 𝐿 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 = 𝑛𝑙 + 𝑅
Where 𝑛 is the number of phases based on traffic signal installations on the approach road and
𝑙 is the lost time for the phase (as defined in ‘lost time’ earlier), 𝑅 is the all-red time in seconds
and Y = y1 +y2+…yn.
6) Apportioning of green time is done as follows
𝑦1
𝐺1 = (𝐶 − 𝐿)
𝑌 𝑂
𝑦2
𝐺2 = (𝐶𝑂 − 𝐿)
𝑌
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1. The average normal flow of traffic on cross roads 1 and 2 during design periods are 440
and 280 PCU/hr; the saturation flow values on these roads are estimated as 1300 and 1100
PCU/hr respectively. The all-red time required for pedestrian crossings is 12 sec. Design
two phase traffic signal with pedestrian crossing by Webster’s method.
Solution
Given: normal flow on roads A & B: 𝑞1 = 440 𝑃𝐶𝑈⁄ℎ𝑟 and 𝑞2 = 280 𝑃𝐶𝑈⁄ℎ𝑟
Saturation flow, 𝑆1 = 1300 𝑃𝐶𝑈⁄ℎ𝑟 and 𝑆2 = 1100 𝑃𝐶𝑈⁄ℎ𝑟;
All-red time, 𝑅 = 12 𝑠𝑒𝑐
Number of Phases, 𝑛 = 2
𝑞1 440
𝑌1 = = = 0.34
𝑆1 1300
𝑞2 280
𝑌2 = = = 0.25
𝑆2 1100
𝑌 = 𝑦1 + 𝑦2 = 0.59
Total Lost Time, 𝐿 = 2𝑛 + 𝑅 = 2 × 2 + 12 = 16 𝑠𝑒𝑐
Optimum Cycle time,
1.5𝐿 + 5
𝐶𝑜 = = 70.7 =71 seconds
1−𝑌
𝑦1
𝐺1 = (𝐶𝑜 − 𝐿) = 31.6 = 32
𝑌
𝑦2
𝐺2 = (𝐶𝑜 − 𝐿) = 23.3 = 23
𝑌
Providing Amber times of 2.0 𝑠𝑒𝑐 each for clearance
Ra = Co - Ga - A = 71 - 32 - 2 = 37
Rb = Co - Gb - A = 71 - 23 - 2 = 46
Provide an all-red time, 𝑅 for pedestrian crossing = 12 𝑆𝑒𝑐
Total cycle time = 32 + 23 + 12 + 2 + 2 = 71 𝑠𝑒𝑐
Phase-A
Phase-B
10 0.816
280 × 13.5 [1 + ]
13.5
54
2. The average normal flow of traffic on cross roads A and B during design perios are 400
and 250 PCU/hr; the saturation flow values on these roads are estimated as 1250 and 1000
PCU/hr respectively. The all-red time required for pedestrian crossings is 12 sec. Design
two phase traffic signal with pedestrian crossing by Webster’s method.
Solution
Given: normal flow on roads A & B: 𝑞𝑎 = 400 𝑃𝐶𝑈⁄ℎ𝑟 and 𝑞𝑏 = 250 𝑃𝐶𝑈⁄ℎ𝑟
Saturation flow, 𝑆𝑎 = 1250 𝑃𝐶𝑈⁄ℎ𝑟 and 𝑆𝑏 = 1000 𝑃𝐶𝑈⁄ℎ𝑟;
All-red time, 𝑅 = 12 𝑠𝑒𝑐
Number of Phases, 𝑛 = 2
𝑞𝑎 400
𝑌𝑎 = = = 0.32
𝑆𝑎 1250
𝑞𝑏 250
𝑌𝑏 = = = 0.25
𝑆𝑏 1000
𝑌 = 𝑦𝑎 + 𝑦𝑏 = 0.32 + 0.25 = 0.57
Total Lost Time, 𝐿 = 2𝑛 + 𝑅 = 2 × 2 + 12 = 16 𝑠𝑒𝑐
Optimum Cycle time,
1.5𝐿 + 5 1.5 × 16 + 5 29
𝐶𝑜 = = = = 67.4 ≅ 67.5 𝑠𝑒𝑐
1−𝑌 1 − 0.57 0.43
𝑦𝑎 0.32
𝐺𝑎 = (𝐶𝑜 − 𝐿) = (67.5 − 16) = 29 𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑌 0.57
𝑦𝑏 0.25
𝐺𝑏 = (𝐶𝑜 − 𝐿) = (67.5 − 16) = 22.5 𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝑌 0.57
Providing Amber times of 2.0 𝑠𝑒𝑐 each for clearance
Phase-A
Ra = Co - Ga - A = 67.5 - 29 - 2 = 36.5
Rb = Co - Gb - A = 67.5 - 22.5 - 2 = 43
Provide an all-red time, 𝑅 for pedestrian crossing = 12 𝑆𝑒𝑐
Phase-B
Total cycle time = 29 + 22.5 + 12 + 2 + 2 = 67.5 𝑠𝑒𝑐
