By implementing coordinated signal timing on the arterial network in Syracuse, New York total fuel consumption was reduced by 9 to 13 percent, average fuel consumption declined by 7 to 14 percent, average vehicle emissions decreased by 9 to 13 percent.

Coordinated Signal Timing on a Arterial in Syracuse, NY

Date Posted
05/21/2004
Identifier
2004-B00273
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Syracuse Signal Interconnect Project: Before and After Analysis Final Report

Summary Information

In response to Onondaga County not meeting air quality standards in 1993, the City of Syracuse implemented the Signal Interconnect Design Project. The project standardized 145 intersections within the City of Syracuse and optimized the signal timing in an attempt to reduce automobile emissions by creating a more efficient network.

The study area included 37 of the 145 intersections, all located along five main arterials. The analysis involved comparison of simulation results representing conditions before and after implementation of the coordinated signal timing. The Synchro™ software package was used to model the performance of the system before and after the improvement project. The before data were collected in 1998 and consist of traffic counts for three time periods (AM, Mid-day, PM), as well as signal timing data. Field travel time data was collected, both before and after implementation, to confirm that the times estimated by the simulations accurately represented actual travel times.

The network simulation was run multiple times to optimize the signal timing. Once the optimized configuration was determined, the signal timings were implemented into the field controllers. To account for real-world conditions not accurately represented in Synchro™, staff calculated field adjustments to the traffic signal timing plans by driving the arterials multiple times at all time periods. These final adjustments, implemented in early 2000, were then input into the Synchro™ package, the simulation tool was run for the thirty-seven intersections, and the performance measures were calculated.

Traffic counts used in the simulation model for both the before and after case were collected in 1998. The authors felt that the 1998 data accurately represented after conditions due to little to no development or population changes in the study area.

Results of the simulations representing before (1998) and after (2000) conditions are summarized below.

Measure of Effectiveness
Unit of Measure
AM PEAK PERIOD
MID DAY PEAK PERIOD
PM PEAK PERIOD
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Signal Delayseconds/veh
14
12
13
11
16
13
Total Stopseach
26,411
23,467
19,840
16,734
30,003
25,236
Average Vehicle Speedmiles/hour
14
15
13
15
12
14
Total Fuel Consumptiongallons
490
447
367
328
546
475
Average Fuel Economymiles/gallon
10.4
11.1
10.3
11.4
9.4
10.7
Average Vehicle EmissionsKg CO
34.24
31.27
25.63
22.95
38.15
33.2
Kg NOx
6.66
6.08
4.99
4.46
7.42
6.46
Kg VOC
7.94
7.25
5.94
5.32
8.84
7.69


Measure of Effectiveness
Unit of Measure
Range of Improvement
(by intersection)
Range of Improvement
(entire network)
Total Vehicular Delayseconds/veh
7.14%
80.95%
14.29%
18.75%
Total Stopseach
-3.84%
84.81%
11.15%
15.89%
Average Vehicle Speedmiles/hour
0.00%
66.67%
7.14%
16.67%
Total Fuel Consumptiongallons
2.56%
40.00%
8.78%
13.00%
Average Fuel Consumptionmiles/gallon
2.46%
63.49%
6.73%
13.83%
Average Vehicle EmissionsKg CO
2.58%
41.35%
8.67%
12.98%
Kg NOx
3.70%
40.00%
8.71%
12.94%
Kg VOC
3.17%
41.67%
8.82%
13.01%

The study observed improvements in most system performance measures for the entire network over all three time periods. When analyzing each intersection individually, a large range of improvement is observed and, in some cases, there is no improvement or decline. The upper and lower bounds on the ranges of improvement measured by intersection were varied by time period for all metrics. Notably, when observing the ranges of improvement for the entire network, the lower bound for all metrics is found exclusively in the AM time period and the upper bound for all metrics is found exclusively in the PM time period.

Improvements in travel time on each of the five main arterials ranged from 1.15 to 34.20 percent during the AM peak, -2.71 to 35.10 percent during the Mid Day period, and -13.88 to 31.18 percent during the PM peak. Level of Service (calculated by seconds of delay) was calculated for 41 intersections, at three different times of the day, for a total of 123 measures. Thirty-six of these measurements improved, 73 remained the same and 14 declined.
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