Traffic Signal Pre-emption Effectiveness in Michigan

Current Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) policy allows signal pre-emption for emergency vehicles, but the emergency agency is responsible for paying for the equipment required for implementation. However, MDOT still has costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the system. It is unknown at this time how many of the emergency pre-emption implementations are working as designed. Question- for existing systems that are operational, are the expected benefits being realized? As the complexity of traffic signal technology continues to grow, the resources available to maintain the signal infrastructure are becoming more strained. As such, it is important to ensure that the resources dedicated to implementing pre-emption are worthwhile and should be prioritized over other competing needs. This project will investigate current state of pre-emption technologies and the various practices underway in MI, as well as develop recommendations for the most effective and reliable systems to maximize the return on investment with minimum disruptions to daily traffic operations. In addition to existing implementations, the technology has developed to a point where more and more use cases are being considered for using signal pre-emption. In cases where it is possible for multiple different use cases to exist along the same corridor, another question/unknown is- how should the various pre-emption calls be prioritized?

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Michigan Department of Transportation

  Van Wagoner Building
  425 W. Ottawa Street
  Lansing, MI  United States  48909
• Performing Organizations:

  Michigan State University, East Lansing

  Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
  Institute for Community Development
  East Lansing, MI  United States  48824-1226
• Principal Investigators:

  Dey, Kakan

• Start Date: 20260109
• Expected Completion Date: 20271108
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Asset management; Emergency vehicles; Recommendations; Return on investment; Traffic signal preemption
• Geographic Terms: Michigan
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01995863
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Michigan Department of Transportation
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 17 2026 11:58AM