Why are signals not always perfectly synchronized?
Intersection signals are coordinated, or synchronized with each other to reduce stops and delay for the major traffic movements. Coordinating signals require that all signals be programmed with a common cycle length, which is the amount of time it takes a signal to sequence through all traffic movements one time. The quality of movement through a series of traffic signals depends on the spacing between signals, the speed of traffic, the cycle length, and the amount of traffic. Signals along main arterials are generally coordinated with each other during the day, when there are heavy traffic flows. It is often not possible to progress traffic in both directions because of imperfect spacing between traffic signals. Sometimes it is necessary to choose one direction to progress. When two-way progression is not possible, the Traffic Operation Engineer often uses computerized traffic modeling to find coordinated timing plans that decrease the total delay and stops for all users of the system
Related Questions
- How will traffic signals between Route 45 and Arbor Vista be synchronized and will there be sensors? In addition, how will the timing be set for rush hour?
- Can the existing US 31 traffic signals be retimed/synchronized to improve traffic congestion?
- Why aren traffic signals in San Antonio synchronized?
