Understanding the Determinants of Lane Inefficiency at Fully Actuated Intersections: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

As urban traffic challenges intensify, the growing interest for fully actuated control systems in intersection management is on the rise due to their capacity to adapt to dynamic traffic demands. These systems play a crucial role in sustainable traffic solutions, significantly reducing delays and emissions and enhancing overall system efficiency. The optimal performance of these systems relies on effectively facilitating vehicle discharge at the saturation flow rate throughout the green period. This study introduces a new parameter, lane inefficiency, evaluating vehicle discharge effectiveness by comparing saturation flow rate with instantaneous discharge for each green period. It provides a comprehensive assessment of green utilization for specific lanes. This study also explores the impact of signal control system parameters and traffic flow characteristics on lane inefficiency using principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple linear regression models. This approach holistically evaluates how both signal control system and traffic flow parameters collectively influence efficient green period utilization. The findings emphasize the impact of critical factors on lane inefficiency, including green time, the proportion of total unused green time to green time, total unused green time, the percentage of heavy vehicles in departing traffic, the ratio of effective green time to cycle time, the total time headways of the first four vehicles, and queue length. Decision makers need to pay due attention to these parameters to enhance intersection performance and foster a more sustainable urban transportation network.