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Evaluation of Manual Traffic Control in Directing Traffic Operations for Major Special Events: Clemson University Football Game Day Experience

Received: 21 September 2018     Accepted: 31 May 2019     Published: 19 May 2020
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Abstract

Crowd ingress and egress occurring before and after large special events results in oversaturation of the traffic network and is a crucial issue event planners and transportation officials must address. Because intersections constitute the greatest restraint in network traffic flows, efficient operation during special event peak flows is crucial. This research focuses on evaluating how well traffic control officers optimize intersection operations during heavily oversaturated conditions associated with large-scale special events. Network traffic data, including volumes, queues, and traffic officer signal/right-of-way phase times, were collected before and after four Clemson University home football games during the 2014 and 2015 season. Actual traffic count volumes were adjusted to account for vehicle queues and used to develop optimal signal timings using Synchro. These results are compared to field-observed intersection operation using officer directed hand-signaling and officer traffic signal pushbutton operation. A microscopic VISSIM model was also created for both manual control and optimized control scenarios to determine average delays for each approach and to improve the interpretation of macroscopic Synchro results. Findings indicate that traffic officers perform well in near saturated conditions; however, optimized signal timings provide reduced approach delay and overall intersection delay in heavily oversaturated conditions. The paper includes recommendations on how traffic officers can improve intersection performance. The paper also describes how results from data collection, analysis, and simulation modeling have been used to make recommendations to law enforcement in evaluating traffic operations and identifying improvements. Intersection control is crucial to the implementation of the overall traffic management plan, and the research findings provide insight to the effectiveness of law enforcement control of intersection operations.

Published in American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajtte.20200502.11
Page(s) 20-28
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Special Event Traffic, Pushbutton Operations, Traffic Officer Intersection Control

References
[1] Deborah Matherly, Pamela Murray-Tuite, and Brian Wolshon. Traffic Management for Planned, Unplanned, and Emergency Events. In Traffic Engineering Handbook, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, (2015) pp. 599-636.
[2] Latoski, S., W. Dunn, Jr., B. Wagenblast, J. Randall, M. Walker, Managing Travel for Planned Special Events, FHWA-OP-04-010, Office of Transportation Management, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Washington, DC, pp. 448, 2003.
[3] Webster, F. V., Traffic Signal Settings, Road Research Technical Paper No. 39, London, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1958: reprinted with minor amendments, 1969.
[4] Webster, F. V. and B. M. Cobbe, Traffic Signals, Technical Paper 56, Road Research Laboratory, London, 1966.
[5] Crawford, J., T. Carlson, W. Eisele, B. Kuhn, “A Michigan Toolbox for Mitigating Congestion,” RC-1554, Texas Transportation Institute, College Sta., TX, pp. 278, 2011.
[6] W. Marsh, B. (1930). Traffic Signals, When and Where? National Safety Council.
[7] Parr, S. and B. Wolshon. “Methodology for Simulating Manual Traffic Control.” Transportation Research Record, Journal of Transportation Research 2562 (2016): 9 – 17.
[8] Ding, N., Q. He, C. Wu, Performance Measurs of Manual Multi-Modal Traffic Signal Control, Proceedings of the 93rd Annual Transportation Research Board Meeting, Washington, DC, Jan. 2013.
[9] Lassacher, S., D. Veneziano, S. Albert, Z. Ye, Traffic Management of Special Events in Small Communities, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2099 (2009): 85-93.
[10] Amini, Sasan & Papapanagiotou, Eftychios & Busch, Fritz. Traffic Management for Major Events. In Digital Mobility Platforms and Ecosystems, Ch. 4, Technische Universität München, (2016) pp. 187-197.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Gowtham Cherukumalli, Wayne Sarasua, Stephen Fry, William Davis. (2020). Evaluation of Manual Traffic Control in Directing Traffic Operations for Major Special Events: Clemson University Football Game Day Experience. American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, 5(2), 20-28. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20200502.11

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    ACS Style

    Gowtham Cherukumalli; Wayne Sarasua; Stephen Fry; William Davis. Evaluation of Manual Traffic Control in Directing Traffic Operations for Major Special Events: Clemson University Football Game Day Experience. Am. J. Traffic Transp. Eng. 2020, 5(2), 20-28. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtte.20200502.11

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    AMA Style

    Gowtham Cherukumalli, Wayne Sarasua, Stephen Fry, William Davis. Evaluation of Manual Traffic Control in Directing Traffic Operations for Major Special Events: Clemson University Football Game Day Experience. Am J Traffic Transp Eng. 2020;5(2):20-28. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtte.20200502.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajtte.20200502.11,
      author = {Gowtham Cherukumalli and Wayne Sarasua and Stephen Fry and William Davis},
      title = {Evaluation of Manual Traffic Control in Directing Traffic Operations for Major Special Events: Clemson University Football Game Day Experience},
      journal = {American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {20-28},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajtte.20200502.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20200502.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajtte.20200502.11},
      abstract = {Crowd ingress and egress occurring before and after large special events results in oversaturation of the traffic network and is a crucial issue event planners and transportation officials must address. Because intersections constitute the greatest restraint in network traffic flows, efficient operation during special event peak flows is crucial. This research focuses on evaluating how well traffic control officers optimize intersection operations during heavily oversaturated conditions associated with large-scale special events. Network traffic data, including volumes, queues, and traffic officer signal/right-of-way phase times, were collected before and after four Clemson University home football games during the 2014 and 2015 season. Actual traffic count volumes were adjusted to account for vehicle queues and used to develop optimal signal timings using Synchro. These results are compared to field-observed intersection operation using officer directed hand-signaling and officer traffic signal pushbutton operation. A microscopic VISSIM model was also created for both manual control and optimized control scenarios to determine average delays for each approach and to improve the interpretation of macroscopic Synchro results. Findings indicate that traffic officers perform well in near saturated conditions; however, optimized signal timings provide reduced approach delay and overall intersection delay in heavily oversaturated conditions. The paper includes recommendations on how traffic officers can improve intersection performance. The paper also describes how results from data collection, analysis, and simulation modeling have been used to make recommendations to law enforcement in evaluating traffic operations and identifying improvements. Intersection control is crucial to the implementation of the overall traffic management plan, and the research findings provide insight to the effectiveness of law enforcement control of intersection operations.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AU  - Gowtham Cherukumalli
    AU  - Wayne Sarasua
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    AB  - Crowd ingress and egress occurring before and after large special events results in oversaturation of the traffic network and is a crucial issue event planners and transportation officials must address. Because intersections constitute the greatest restraint in network traffic flows, efficient operation during special event peak flows is crucial. This research focuses on evaluating how well traffic control officers optimize intersection operations during heavily oversaturated conditions associated with large-scale special events. Network traffic data, including volumes, queues, and traffic officer signal/right-of-way phase times, were collected before and after four Clemson University home football games during the 2014 and 2015 season. Actual traffic count volumes were adjusted to account for vehicle queues and used to develop optimal signal timings using Synchro. These results are compared to field-observed intersection operation using officer directed hand-signaling and officer traffic signal pushbutton operation. A microscopic VISSIM model was also created for both manual control and optimized control scenarios to determine average delays for each approach and to improve the interpretation of macroscopic Synchro results. Findings indicate that traffic officers perform well in near saturated conditions; however, optimized signal timings provide reduced approach delay and overall intersection delay in heavily oversaturated conditions. The paper includes recommendations on how traffic officers can improve intersection performance. The paper also describes how results from data collection, analysis, and simulation modeling have been used to make recommendations to law enforcement in evaluating traffic operations and identifying improvements. Intersection control is crucial to the implementation of the overall traffic management plan, and the research findings provide insight to the effectiveness of law enforcement control of intersection operations.
    VL  - 5
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Author Information
  • Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, US

  • Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, US

  • Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, US

  • Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Citadel, Charleston, US

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