| The United States Department of Transportation has recently begun implementation of the national demonstration project for suburban Advanced Traffic Management (ATMS) and Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) in Oakland County, Michigan. As part of this project, the City of South Lyon has recently converted the control of its signalized traffic network from optimized fixed-time control to the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS). SCATS is an automated, real time, traffic responsive signal control strategy. Under SCATS, the timing of the signals is governed by a computer-based control logic. The system has the ability to modify signal timings on a cycle-by-cycle basis using traffic flow information collected at the intersection approach stop lines.;The study will make use of the "before/after" analysis technique to measure certain aspects of the traffic delay conditions in periods prior to and following the implementation of SCATS control. The research will be structured within a framework of several component segments including data collection, reduction, analysis, simulation model construction, and statistical testing.;The expected benefit from such a system comes from its ability to constantly modify signal timing patterns to most effectively accommodate changing traffic conditions. While potential benefits from this control structure may be significant, few research studies have used computer simulation modeling to document the effect of implementing this method of signal control. The objectives of this research study are to analyze and document the changes to certain traffic flow and delay parameters which have occurred in South Lyon as a result of implementing SCATS signal control. |
