| The current traffic signal analysis software do not thoroughly consider the fundamental traffic flow relationships when setting the offsets of the adjacent signalized intersections. Desired speeds, which are entered by the user, are often used as progression speed for the arterial. This often leads to poor operating performance if the speed values are not feasible to the current traffic flow condition.; iCOTraffic system, web-based system for traffic signal analysis, was developed as a part of this research. The system contains three modules: the input module, the analysis and design module, and the output module. The input module allows the user to enter roadway geometric information, traffic volumes, lane configurations, and minimum timing parameters. The analysis and design module contains functions to produce phase sequence design and intersection timing plan. It also contains coordination strategy subroutine (CSS), and bandwidth maximization subroutine. CSS was designed to determine the prevailing traffic flow condition and to provide a range of feasible progression speeds. The bandwidth maximization subroutine was designed to maximize the green bandwidths for the through movements. The output module contains reports of the intersection timing plan and the time-space diagram.; A comparison study was conducted by analyzing Baldwin Road, an arterial road located in the northern suburb of Detroit, Michigan, using four options: Synchro 6.0, PASSER II, iCOTraffic without CSS, and iCOTraffic with CSS. The objective was to coordinate the adjacent signalized intersections along the arterial and to produce the timing plan parameters using the four options and six cases of traffic demand. SimTraffic, the microscopic simulation tool, was used to evaluate the optimal solutions from each tool. The MOE results from each tool were compared and presented using different figures and tables.; The results show that iCOTraffic, with the use of CSS or without, outperformed Synchro in all six cases and in four out of six for PASSER in term of producing higher progression efficiency values. In addition, iCOTraffic produced higher average arterial speed values, therefore better LOS, than Synchro for the first five cases for both directions and produced higher values than PASSER for case 5 and case 6. Thus, iCOTraffic system generally produces better arterial LOS for near-saturated traffic flow regimes. Despite the mixed results of arterial delay and number of stops, iCOTraffic CSS produces reasonable values. |
