Lecture 1

1. Traffic Signal – any highway traffic signal by which traffic is alternatively directed to stop and
permitted to proceed.
2. The World first traffic light came into being even before the automobile was in use, and traffic
consisted only of pedestrians, buggies, and wagons.
a. Installed at an intersection in London in 1868, it was a lantern powered by gas that lit up
red (stop) and green (caution).
3. The First Traffic Island was installed in SF, California in 1907.
a. Left-hand drive became normal in America in 1908
b. Painted Line installed in Michigan in 1911
4. The world's First electric traffic signal was put into place by Morgan in OHIO in August 1914.
Had Red and Green Colors
a. A No Left Turn signal was installed in 1916.
5. Police Officer William L. Potts of Detroit, Michigan, used red, amber, and green railroad lights
and, with thirty-seven dollars’ worth, made the world’s first 4-way three-color traffic light in 1920
in Detroit.
6. Components of A Traffic Signal
a. Signal Structure, Signal Heads, Traffic Controller, Detection System, Communication
System, ITS Devices.
7. Devices
a. Loop Detectors, Video Detection, and Thermal Detection Cameras
8. 3 Levels of Driver Information

a.

Lecture 2

1. Function and Purpose of Signs

a. Provide Regulations, warnings, and guidance information for road users. Words, symbols,
and arrows are used to convey messages.
b. Permanent signs should not be used on a frequent basis. Instead for new regulations,
temporary signs should be used.
2. Signs should be used only when justified by engineering judgment or studies.
a. Urban traffic conditions differ from those in rural environments, and in many cases, signs
are located differently.
b. Results from traffic engineering studies should indicate the locations where signs are
deemed necessary
3. Classification of Signs
 a. Regulatory Signs – give notice of traffic laws or regulations
i. Ex: Yield Sign, Stop Sign, Speed Limit Sign, Right Turn Only, No U-turn, and
Yield to stop
b. Warning Signs – Give notice of a situation that might not be readily apparent (hazards).
Reaction Time 2.5 to 14.5 seconds
i. “Stop Ahead, Turn Left / Right, Traffic Signal Ahead”
c. Guide Signs – show destinations, directions, distances, services, points of interest, and
geographical or cultural information.
i. General Service Signs, Tourist Directional Signs (rest area 1 mile), Interstate
Highway Signs, US Route Signs, Directional Signs, and Distance Signs.
d. Motorist Information Signs – Additional Information
e. Five Criteria for any Traffic Control Device":
i. Fulfill a Need
ii. Command Attention of Road Users
iii. Convey a Clear, Simple Meaning
iv. Command the Respect of Road Users
v. Give Adequate Time For Proper Response
4.

5. A sign must command respect, serve, and purpose.

6. MUTCD Definitions (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices)
a. Shall (Mandatory Condition – Standard)
b. Should (Advisory Condition – Guidance)
c. May (Permissive Condition – Option)
7. Sign Design
a. Legible and understandable in time to process a response
b. High Visibility and High Legibility
c. Colors and shapes
8. Sign Clearance
a. Rural Area Sign Clearance 5 Feet and 12 ft
b. Commercial Sign Clearance of 7 ft
9. Maintenance of Signs
a. Visual Night Inspection
b. Calibration Signs
c. Constant Parameters
 d. Comparison Panels
e. Measured Sign Reflectivity
f. Expected Sign Life
10. Traffic Colors
a. Red – Stop / Prohibition
b. Green – Movement permitted, direction guidance
c. Blue – Drivers Services Guide
d. Yellow – General Warnings
e. Black – Regulations
f. White – White
g. Orange – Construction and Maintenance Warning
h. Brown – Public Recreation and scenic
11. Flow Chart

12. Warrants
a. Warrant 1: 8-Hour Vehicular Volume
Used when traffic volumes on both streets are high for 8 hours on a typical day.
i. Applies best when major street speed is over 40 MPH or it's tough for side street
traffic to enter or cross.
b. Warrant 2: 4-Hour Vehicular Volume
Similar to Warrant 1 but only requires 4 hours of high traffic.
i. Good for areas with high traffic volumes during only part of the day.
 c. Warrant 3: Peak Hour
For places with heavy congestion during just one hour of the day (usually the afternoon
rush).
i. Often used in commercial or industrial zones.
d. Warrant 4: Pedestrian Volume
Used when many pedestrians need to cross and traffic is too heavy, causing long wait
times.
e. Warrant 5: School Crossing
Applied when school children regularly cross a busy street and a crossing guard alone
isn’t enough.
f. Warrant 6: Coordinated Signal System
A signal might be needed to keep traffic flowing smoothly along a corridor where several
signals are already coordinated.
g. Warrant 7: Crash Experience
If there's a high number or severity of crashes at the intersection that other solutions
haven't fixed, a signal might be justified.
h. Warrant 8: Roadway Network
Used to organize and guide traffic more efficiently through the road system—basically
helping drivers move where they’re supposed to.
i. Warrant 9: Intersection Near Railroad Crossing
If there's a railroad crossing near an intersection controlled by a stop or yield sign, and
the location causes conflicts or safety concerns, a signal may be considered.

Lecture 3

1. Capacity- the maximum sustainable traffic flow during a given time period. It is expressed in
(vehicle/hr/ln)
a. Affected by # lanes, lane width, traffic speed, Heavy Vehicles.
2. Demand - total number of trips or the volume of traffic that wishes to use a particular
transportation facility (like a road, highway, or public transit line) within a given time
period.
a. Q: When demand exceeds the physical capacity of the roadway, what are some traffic
management options?
i. Manage demand by ramp metering (freeways)
ii. Multimodal Transportation (trains, buses, etc)
iii. Managed Lanes including reversible use lanes by TOD (I-595)
iv. Express Lanes (demand management)
v. Remote work, hybrid, flex schedules
3. Platoon Ratio – used to describe the quality of signal progression for the movement group.
a. Demand flow rate during green time / average demand flow rate.
i. Platoon Ratio = number of vehicles during green / (effective green time / cycle
length)
 ii.
b. Typically, Platoon Ratio is 0.33 to 2.0
i.

4. Peak Hour Factor – quantifies traffic volume during that peak hour over a 15-minute interval

a.
b. Find AM Peak period between 7am – 10am and then AM PHF
i.

5. Traffic Density - defined as the number of vehicles occupying a unit length of a lane of a roadway
at a given instant of time. This is usually expressed in (veh/mi or veh/km).
6. Traffic Volume = Density x Speed =
a. the number of vehicles passing a given point on a roadway during a specified time period.
This is usually expressed as (veh/hr).
i. Veh/hr = (Veh/mile) x (mile/hr)
7. Critical Speed – the traffic speed at which volume meets capacity.

a.
b. Maximum Flow Rate – capacity of transportation facility.
c. Critical Density – Traffic density when flow rate is maximum
8. Speed = Flow Rate / Density
a. Q. If the maximum flow rate is 2350 veh/h and the critical density is 45pc/miles/lane then
the critical speed will be 52mph.
9. Headway – time difference between vehicles as they pass a point, measured from the same point
on each vehicle.
a. For uninterrupted flow, headway in a lane is the reciprocal of the flow rate.
b. Headway units are (seconds/veh)
c. Headway = Spacing (ft/veh) / Speed (ft/sec)
10. Saturation Flow Rate - # of vehicles per hour per lane that passes through a signalized
intersection.
a. Saturation Flow = 3600 / saturation headway
11. Occupancy – Occupancy in Space and in Time. Occupancy in space is the proportion of the actual
length of the roadway occupied by each vehicle.
a. Length of Roadway occupied by vehicles / total length of roadway
b. Total time detector occupied/defined period

c.
12. Lane Group - A lane group is a set of lanes at an intersection that serve the same movement
13. Delay - the extra travel time experienced by drivers due to control devices (like signals),

congestion, or other traffic conditions.

a. measured in seconds per vehicle.
14. Analysis Period - specific time window used for evaluating traffic operations—often 15 minutes,
30 minutes, or 1 hour. It should reflect the time of day when the highest or most relevant traffic
conditions occur.
15. Peak Period – traffic volume at its highest
16. Degree of Saturation (v/c) – how close a lane group is to reaching it max capacity.
17. LOS – traffic conditions from A to F
18.

19.
20.

21.
22. Crash Rates - The number of crashes relative to traffic exposure (like number of vehicles or miles
traveled). It adjusts for how busy the location is.
a. Units: Crashes per million vehicles (or per million vehicle miles traveled)
b. R = (1000000 x C) / (365 x N x V)
i. C = amount of crashes
ii. N = number of years
iii. Traffic volumes entering daily
23. Crash Frequency - The total number of crashes that occur at a location during a given period.
a. Units: Just a count (e.g., 12 crashes per year)
b. Focuses on: Volume of incidents — often used when looking at how many crashes
happen at a specific location, regardless of how much traffic is there.
c. Example: “This intersection had 20 crashes in 2023.”
24. Site Specific Screening
 a. Reactive
b. No Crashes + risk = no risk
c. Uses site specific
25. Systemic Screening
a. Proactive
b. No crashes don’t mean no risk
c. Used Crashes and risk
26. Crash Modification Factor – a multiplicative factor that indicates the proportion of crashes that
would be expected
a. Ex: A rural curve had 4 nighttime crashes per year and the engineer is installing chevrons.
CMF = 0.75
b. How many nighttime crashes are expected in the year? 4 x 0.75 = 3 crashes per year

Lecture 4

1. Passage/Extension/Gap - time extension given to a green signal after a vehicle is detected.

a. 2 to 5 seconds
2. Max Green I & II
a. Max Green I: Standard max green time a phase is allowed before timing out, even if
vehicles are present.
b. Max Green II: A second-stage or override maximum (often used in coordination or
special cases)
c. Once Max is reached, the green ends regardless of demand.
3. Yellow Duration - The yellow (amber) interval warns drivers that the light is about to turn red.
a. Usually based on speed limit and perception-reaction time. 3 – 6 seconds.
4. All Red Duration - the time it takes in all directions for a red signal to clear the intersection
before the next phase.
a. Prevents red-light running collisions.
5. Flashing Don’t Walk – signal that warns pedestrians to finish crossing or do not walk
6. Phase Recall (Min, Max, Ped, CNA)
a. Min - Phase always comes up for at least minimum time — even if no vehicles detected.
b. Max - Phase always comes up for its full maximum time.
c. Ped - Pedestrian phase automatically activates every cycle.
d. CNA - Call No Accommodate) - Places a demand on the phase but won’t serve
pedestrian movement (used during coordination).
7. Cycle Length - Total time for a full sequence of signal phases.
8. Split – How time is allocated or divided up among each phase
9. Offset – Time shift of a signal's green relative to others.
10. Delay Settings – how long a vehicle is detected before the controller responds
11. TOD Plan – Time of Day planning. Includes splits, cycle lengths and offsets.
12. Call - An indication within a controller that a vehicle or pedestrian is awaiting service from a
particular phase
13. Extend - A detector parameter that increases the duration of a detector actuation by a defined
fixed amount.
14. Gap Out - A type of actuated operation for a given phase where the phase terminates due to a lack
of vehicle calls within a specific period.
15. Interval - The duration of time during which the indications do not change their state (active or
off). Typically, one or more timing parameters control the duration of an interval. The pedestrian
clearance interval is determined by the pedestrian clearance time. The green interval duration is
controlled by a number of parameters, including minimum time, maximum time, gap time, etc.
16. Minimum Gap - A volume density parameter that specifies the shortest amount of time a signal
gives between cars before it decides traffic has slowed down enough to change the light.
17. Minimum Green - A parameter that defines the shortest green light time allowed.
18. Maximum Green – maximum amount of time that a green signal indication can be displayed with
demand.
19. Minimum Recall - A parameter that results in a phase being called and timed for at least its
minimum green time whether or not a vehicle is present. Makes the signal automatically show
green for a direction even if no cars present.
20. Movement - Movements reflect the user perspective. Movements can also be broken down into
classes (car, pedestrians, buses, LRT).
21. Max Out - A type of actuated operation for a given phase where the phase ends due to reaching
the designated maximum green time for that phase.
22. Passage Time (Vehicle Interval, Gap, Passage Gap, Unit Extension) - A parameter that specifies
the maximum allowable of time between vehicle calls on a phase before the phase is terminated.
23. Pedestrian Clearance Interval - This is the time when the "Flashing Don’t Walk" sign is on. It
means pedestrians shouldn’t start crossing, but anyone already in the crosswalk should hurry
up and finish.
a. Some cities include both the flashing time and the yellow light time as part of this
clearance period.
24. Phase - A timing unit associated with the control of one or more indications. A phase may be
timed considering complex criteria for determination of sequence and the duration of intervals.
25. Pre-timed control - A signal control in which the cycle length, phase plan, and phase times are
predetermined and fixed.
26. Actuated Signal Control - This is when traffic signals respond to cars or pedestrians being
detected. The green light stays on only as long as it needs to, based on who’s actually there—
like when a sensor sees a car waiting or a pedestrian pushes a button.
27. Semi-Automatic Control – A type of signal control where detection is provided for the minor
movements only.
28. CSO
a. Common Cycle Lengths
b. Splits
c. Offsets
i. There is Time based – pre defined time (based on time of day)
ii. Demand Based – adaptive, not based of time of day
29. Coordination – Synchronizes main street movement for close spaced traffic signals.
a. Fixed Cycle Length
b. Timing Plans Can vary based of TOD
c. Phase Min Green and Extension times remain constant
30. Semi Actuated Signals
a. The main road usually stays green. The side road only gets a green if a car is detected
waiting. Detectors (sensors) are placed only on the side street. These are used when the
side street doesn’t get much traffic.
31. Fully Actuated Signals
a. Detectors on all approaches
b. Green time is based on traffic signals that make decisions from inputs from sensors
32. Cycle Length – complete sequence of signal indications
33. Phase – portion of time that movements having the right of way doesn’t change
34. Interval – portion of time that signal indication remains unchanged
35. Overlap – a traffic movement that happens at the same time with one or more phases.
a. Yellow and red clearance overalap typically
36. Pedestrian Clearance Time – crossing distance divided by the walking speed
37. Minimum Pedestrian Green Time
a. Walking speed normally 4ft / sec or 3.5ft/sec

b. Pic
38. Red Clearance = (distance from stop line to intersection + vehicle length) / speed
a. Userd to Clear vehicles in intersection
39. Yellow Time – Warn drivers of end of phase

a.
1.
2.