Minimizing the Average Delay at Intersections via Presignals and Speed Control

Abstract

Urban intersections have been well recognized as bottlenecks of urban transport systems. It is thus important to propose and implement strategies for increasing the efficiency of public and private transportation systems as a whole. In order to achieve this goal, an additional signal could be set up near the intersection to give priority to buses through stopping vehicles in advance of the main intersection as a presignal. It has been increasingly popular in urban cities. While presignals indeed reduce the average delay per traveler, they cause extra stops of private vehicles, which might compromise the overall efficiency, safety, and sustainability. This paper aims to propose a model to improve presignals by reducing the vehicles’ number of stops behind the presignals. By applying the method, vehicles would be able to adjust their speed based on traffic conditions as well as buses’ speed and approach. Numerical analyses have been conducted to determine the conditions required for implementing this method.