FOCUS ON GREATER UNDERSTANDING THROUGH DATA

Evaluating smart traffic signal design

Illustration by Jing Jing Tsong

Civil engineer Pengfei “Taylor” Li hopes to make traffic signals smarter with new simulation techniques and big data.

The assistant professor is leading a project funded by the U.S. and Texas departments of transportation to develop software tools to link traffic simulation engines with forward-looking Automated Traffic Signal Performance Metrics (ATSPM) systems, then comprehensively evaluate the performance of new traffic signal designs before they are implemented.

“Right now, the ATSPM can only be used to post-evaluate traffic signal systems after their deployment, while most traffic signal systems are still being designed following a traditional framework adopted decades ago,” Dr. Li says. “We aim to close the gap between planning/design and operations/evaluations by using the same criteria.”

A commonly used traffic simulation package, VISSIM, will generate realistic traffic and mobility data under various traffic signal programs. This data will be fed into multiple ATSPM systems to evaluate the traffic signal performance. Li and his team will also conduct case studies at 10 to 15 intersections along Cooper Street in Arlington.

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