Adaptive Traffic Signals

City College of New York

ENGL 21007

Professor Brown

Fraylin Sanchez, Mohammed Kabir, Kendry Figueroa

 

Traffic jams have a tremendous impact on the life of people. It is one of the most serious problems in big cities that people have to deal with in daily life. With the evolution of technology, places are starting to use adaptive traffic signals to regulate this problem. Adaptive traffic signals collect data from the area’s past traffic to match the current traffic conditions at the time. To incorporate this into certain areas the budget will be around thirty to fifty-six thousand dollars [1]. Incorporating new software, collecting past data and studying the traffic takes time. Although it can be a big investment because adaptive traffic signals will satisfy drivers and decrease traffic jams. It will also reduce the number of collisions and save fuel for a lot of vehicles. Additionally, traditional signals are time consuming and expensive; they require more maintenance and updates. The costs of congestion and delay to road users are substantial, and adaptive signal control technology delivers benefits to users that far outweigh its cost.

 

 

Table of Contents

Introduction	3
Project Description	3
Visuals	6
Budget	7
Conclusion	8
References	9

 

 

Introduction

Have you ever wondered whether or not traffic lights helped the flow of traffic decrease? When discussing traffic and the flow of it, our technology is best suited for these types of situations. Even though it may range from $6,000 to $60,000 to apply our adaptive traffic lights, it would calculate the traffic that’s going on on the ground to help reduce the traffic that goes on different types of roads. Creating this helps traffic go from cars going bumper to bumper to more controlled traffic which would help people get to their homes quicker. When people go and come back from work all they want to do is get to their home but most of the time they would be stuck in traffic either because of the morning rush or in the afternoon. My team and I understand this and have decided to create this technology for the safety and swiftness it provides for people. Once we put this technology into reality we will be able to monitor traffic better than normal traffic lights because our system has to detect the traffic that is happening on the ground. We are going to accomplish safety, swiftness, fewer delays, decrease in vehicle and pedestrian-related accidents. However, not everything is perfect in this world but we will make it so that everyone could have their trust and belief in the world of technology. We gain this trust from the public by providing them with real life examples and how it impacted the area’s traffic. An example would be in Mountsville, Wyoming where since the installation, congestion between the traffic signals in the corridor has been reduced around 40 percent[2]. We are able to detect if there are pedestrians waiting to cross only until they press the button indicating whether they are waiting to cross.

 

 

 

Project Description

When doing this type of technology we would have to work with the steel poles that surround the street and are connected with the traffic light itself. Having the engineers help have the traffic light be in sync when needing to change when there is heavy or light traffic. Also having technicians that work in that specific area to make sure the wiring and connections are placed and working correctly. When the engineers and technicians work together it makes the development of placing the cameras above the traffic lights much easier because both are needed in order to make things go smoothly [3]. Creating this is the easiest step because we will be assembling the adaptive traffic control system but the hardest part is keeping it up to date and the maintenance of it. Irregularities may occur along the way but, as time passes more improvements could be made. The best part is that when this is created crossing guards aren’t going to be needed as much because this technology would help reduce traffic and monitor it at the same time.

The implementation of adaptive traffic signals comes with great benefits. They move traffic along faster and with fewer stops. Their adaptive system allows the signals to be constantly reprogrammed to maximize the green light length and allow the most cars through. By having fewer stops in the traffic, the number of rear-end collisions is reduced and collisions causing serious injuries can be cut in half [1]. Adaptive traffic signals keep congestion to a minimum which reduces the cost of fuel waste by idling and lost time. By keeping congestion to a minimum and thereby the total time to travel, vehicles emissions are greatly reduced protecting our environment.

Adaptive traffic signals work by using sensors and cameras that collect information about the vehicles in the intersections and their follow. This information is transmitted to a traffic light engine which is programmed to analyze the information and create a customized timing sequence in real time depending on the traffic conditions. Multiple intersections are coordinated, so that traffic can move freely, rather than encountering frequent starts and stops [1]. Engineers and technicians have to work together to come up with a plan to design the operating system of the traffic engine, and work with the city/government to implement and test them on the street. A plan needs to be in place to keep the signals in working conditions and be designed for minimum maintenance required. Traffic signal operators should constantly monitor the system to make sure it is accurately working and bypass if necessary [4]. Sensors are able to detect when emergency vehicles are operating and change the signal to green. Pedestrians also take advantage of this system by pressing a button that can be placed on sidewalks, which will allow pedestrians to wait for as little as possible to cross streets. As the operating system gets better with active learning technology, adaptive traffic signals will be able to detect when a pedestrian is waiting to cross streets and change the light for them to cross as needed.

Adaptive traffic signals come with their problems. The purpose of these signals is to prioritize travel in direction with the most vehicular demand and allow the most flow of traffic in as little time as possible. This can be a problem for pedestrians trying to cross the street in the direction perpendicular to the flow of most traffic. This issue can be one of the main problems that can be faced when implementing this system. The amount of time pedestrians have to cross streets is affected and this is a problem for slow walkers such as the elderly [5]. In big cities such as in Manhattan where there is a big flow of tourism, the large number of tourists walking will have long wait times to cross streets since the large number of people won’t be able to cross all at once in a short amount of time. This problem can be partially fixed by implementing push buttons that will change the light in favor of pedestrians for a set amount of time. Another problem that can happen is when there is heavy flow of traffic in both perpendicular lanes, the computer can have a hard time deciding which lane to prioritize. This is a problem that can easily be solved by having an operator that is constantly monitoring the system, and having the operator assign equal light time to both traffic lanes.

 

Visuals

Figure 1. Architecture Diagram of Traffic Signal Control System.

Source: Adapted from [6]

 

 

 

Budget

Cost Per Intersection

Category	Estimated Costs	Budget %
Cameras/Sensors	$23,500	39.2%
Traffic Engine	$15,000	25.0%
Traffic Signals	$5,000	8.3%
Pedestrians Poles	$5,000	8.3%
Solar Panels	$5,000	8.3%
Installation	$2,500	4.2%
Battery	$1,500	2.5%
Controllers	$1,500	2.5%
Maintenance	$1,000	1.7%
TOTAL	$60,000	100%

 

 

 

Conclusion

Overall, traffic management needs improvement as technology evolves. An adaptive traffic signal system can be a possible solution to this problem. Although this system can be costly the long term benefits will be worth the investment. Having to wait at long red lights when there are no pedestrians or vehicles in lane with green light can be frustrating. With this new system, it will inherit past data on it’s traffic congestions and come up with a cycle that will better fit the area.  Traditional signal timing plans do not accommodate variable and unpredictable traffic demands. This produces customer complaints, frustrated drivers, and degraded safety. In the absence of complaints, months or years might pass before inefficient traffic signal timing settings are updated. With adaptive traffic signals, information is collected and signal timing is updated continually[4]. From there onwards, other places will start develop similar systems to improve traffic congestion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

[1]	E. Stump, “Adaptive Traffic Signals Reduce Delay, Increase Safety, and Improve Public Satisfaction,” Herbert, Rownland & Grubic, Inc., 17 January 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.hrg-inc.com/adaptive-traffic-signals-reduce-delay-increase-safety-and-improve-public-satisfaction/. [Accessed 10 April 2022].
[2]	PEENDOT, “Adaptive Signal Control Technology,” Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 06 June 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.penndot.pa.gov/about-us/StateTransportationInnovationCouncil/Innovations/Pages/Adaptive-Signal-Control-Technology-(EDC).aspx. [Accessed 02 May 2022].
[3]	DRCOG, “Traffic Signals – What happens behind the scenes?,” Denver Regional Council of Governments, 10 February 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www3.drcog.org/documents/archive/Traffic%20Signals%20Behind%20the%20Scenes%20v2.pdf. [Accessed 10 April 2022].
[4]	Office of Operations, “Resources to Support Traffic Signal System Capability Maturity Framework Users,” Federal Highway Adminstration, 16 February 2021. [Online]. Available: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/tsmoframeworktool/resources/tss_cmf_res/index.htm. [Accessed 10 April 2022].
[5]	M. Ostrow, “Eleven Ways Adaptive Signals Frustrate, Discourage, and Endanger People Who Walk,” The Urbanist, 6 September 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.theurbanist.org/2018/09/06/eleven-ways-adaptive-signals-frustrate-discourage-and-endanger-people-who-walk/. [Accessed 10 April 2022].
[6]	M. F. Rachmadi κ.ά., “Adaptive traffic signal control system using camera sensor and embedded system”, TENCON 2011 – 2011 IEEE Region 10 Conference, 21 November 2011. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1109/TENCON.2011.6129009. [Accessed 10 April 2022].