| The signalized intersection is at same time an essential and complex part of the urban circulation system. Indeed, it controls both pedestrian and vehicular flows in order to provide the best level of service possible, that is to say the one which reduces lost time, but also the one with the right safety conditions of use. Thus, it is important to optimise it. For this matter, the precise evaluation of the saturation flow, cornerstone for the analysis of the capacity of signalized intersections, is the first step of a calculus optimising the traffic flow. In this way, the objective of this study is to develop a methodology to gather data in order to determine the basic saturation flow at the signalized intersections of Montreal.; The review of literature allowed us to understand the origin of various adjustment factors and to compare their effects (width of lane, weather conditions, vehicule types, etc.). It appears that there are disparities between the different models and that some effects are still few documented. As far as data gathering methods are concerned, the use of portable informatics with a dedicated software simplified the procedure for collecting and analysing data to determine the saturation flow.; The new methodology has been used during a large scale campaign to collect data on the island of Montreal. This study has thereby made possible the determination of the basic saturation flow of 1845uvp/h, adapted to local traffic conditions as well as the lost time at the cycle beginning of 2,59 seconds. The developments of informatics' tools allowing an automatic treatment of the data set could make the chosen approach even more attractive compared to the other methods of evaluation of the saturation flow, and thus make it accessible for further local studies. |
