Performance-Based Operations Assessment of Adaptive Control Implementation in Des Moines, Iowa

Maintaining optimal mobility on high-volume arterial traffic corridors is important to transportation agencies and the public. Corridor performance often can be enhanced by updating traffic signal timing, but most agencies find it necessary to prioritize their retiming efforts based on resource constraints. To facilitate prioritization, a set of arterial corridor performance measures was developed using INRIX probe vehicle data. These commercially available data are derived from in-vehicle global positioning system (GPS) observations transmitted wirelessly, eliminating the need for supplemental traffic observation infrastructure to be installed in the field. The main objective of this study was to present a methodology to compare arterial corridors in terms of mobility-based performance measures. This process can help agencies select the corridors that are in need of signal retiming and can help identify corridors suited for adaptive signal control implementation. The two-step methodology began by identifying the number of days in a year with abnormal traffic patterns and comparing the volume-normalized performance of the remaining segments to identify corridors that are problematic on normal days. The proposed methodology was applied to 12 corridors in Des Moines, Iowa, and 1 in Omaha, Nebraska. Three corridors were found to have a high number of anomalous days. Among the remaining corridors, three were identified as under-performing on normal days. In addition, the impact of implementing an adaptive signal control system on one corridor (University Avenue) was evaluated, where small improvements in travel rate and daily variation were observed, but the overall variability increased.

• Record URL:
  http://intrans.iastate.edu/mtc/index.cfm/research/project/project/573105688
• Record URL:
  http://www.intrans.iastate.edu/publications/_documents/t2summaries/ops_assess_of_adaptive_control_implementation_in_DM_t2.pdf
• Record URL:
  http://www.intrans.iastate.edu/research/documents/research-reports/ops_assess_of_adaptive_control_implementation_in_DM_w_cvr.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Related to: Performance Based Operations Assessment of Adaptive Traffic Signal Control, RB09-016 https://rip.trb.org/view/2015/P/1370086

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $46040
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Midwest Transportation Center

  Iowa State University
  2711 S Loop Drive, Suite 4700
  Ames, IA  United States  50010-8664
• Performing Organizations:

  Iowa State University, Ames

  Institute for Transportation
  2711 South Loop Drive, Suite 4700
  Ames, Iowa  United States  50010-8664
• Principal Investigators:

  Sharma, Anuj

  Knickerbocker, Skylar

  Nath, Ravi

  Hawkins, Neal

• Start Date: 20160301
• Expected Completion Date: 20170831
• Actual Completion Date: 20180831

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adaptive control; Arterial highways; Benefits; Data collection; Highway operations; Traffic control; Traffic data; Traffic signal controllers
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01595744
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Midwest Transportation Center
• Files: UTC, RiP
• Created Date: Apr 6 2016 2:27PM