Performance Measures in Canadian Capacity Guide for Signalized Intersections

Abstract

The set of performance measures included in the second edition of the Canadian Capacity Guide for Signalized Intersections, an updated, enhanced, and significantly expanded version of a Canadian traffic engineering document, is described. Because some of these measures represent new research applications and have not been published elsewhere, the objectives here are threefold; (a) to share the results with the broader technical public, (b) to present them for an international discussion, and (c) to contribute to the ongoing debate on evaluation of the performance of signalized intersections, often the most critical elements of urban networks. The second edition presents a set of traditional, modified, and new analytical tools as well as a set of up-to-date numerical parameters for Canadian conditions, which make it possible to analyze specific problems and to assess the benefits and disadvantages of alternative solutions. The number of measures of effectiveness has been substantially increased compared with the first edition. In addition to the traditional types of delay, there are two new key performance measures: total person delay and delay to pedestrians. These are essential prerequisites for equitable treatment of all modes of transportation, especially public transit. Other performance measures, such as several types of queues, probability of cycle overload, number of stops, fuel consumption, and pollutant emissions, provide the user with a comprehensive account of intersection operation. Some of these measures are also useful as input to economic and environmental analyses. In addition, the results of the procedures may provide vital information for transportation demand modeling and forecasting.

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