[PDF] Traffic Signal Operations Near Highway Rail Grade Crossings eBook

Author : Hans W. Korve
Publisher : Transportation Research Board
Page : 100 pages
File Size : 13,99 MB
Release : 1999
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9780309068246

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Presents a review of the current practices associated with the operation of traffic signals at intersections located near highway-rail grade crossings.

Author :
Publisher :
Page : 76 pages
File Size : 25,16 MB
Release : 2017
Category : Highway-railroad grade crossings
ISBN : 9780309389952

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TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 507: Traffic Signal Preemption at Intersections Near Highway--Rail Grade Crossings documents the current practices of traffic signal preemption deployed at intersections adjacent to railway grade crossing in both the United States and Canada. The study provides information on practices dealing with traffic signal preemption, maintenance, funding, and operations.

Author : Institute of Transportation Engineers. Traffic Engineering Council. Joint Rail Grade Crossing Committee
Publisher :
Page : 80 pages
File Size : 24,21 MB
Release : 2019
Category : Electronic traffic controls
ISBN : 9781933452975

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The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) prepared this report to reflect the current state-of-the-practice and to provide the user with a broad overview of key considerations for the preemption of traffic signals near railroad grade crossings. Where a signalized intersection exists in close proximity to a railroad crossing and either queues from the intersection impact the crossing or queues from the crossing impact the intersection, the railroad signal control equipment and the highway traffic signal control equipment should be interconnected. The normal operation of the traffic signals controlling the intersection should be preempted to operate in a special control mode when trains are approaching. This proposed recommended practice was written primarily for an audience of engineers working for public agencies, railroads, and public transit agencies engaged in signal design and operational timing. The objective of this proposed revision is to include new information on the design and operation of traffic signal preemption that has been learned since the previous edition was published.

Author : Leonard Ruback
Publisher :
Page : 124 pages
File Size : 50,62 MB
Release : 2004
Category : Highway-railroad grade crossings
ISBN :

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The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) primarily uses simultaneous preemption of traffic signals near highway-rail grade crossings to clear queued vehicles prior to the arrival of a train at the crossing. At some intersections, 20 seconds of advanced warning may not be sufficient to allow the traffic signal to clear pedestrians using the normal clearance intervals between phases. The research developed an alternative method (non-vital advance preemption) of ensuring adequate pedestrian clearance in the presence of an approaching train without interfering with the normal preemption sequence at the intersection or installing costly additional track circuitry needed to provide advance preemption. Two strategies were investigated to ensure pedestrian clearance time. The first utilizes a lower-level preemption sequence to guarantee full pedestrian clearance to a terminating phase before the traffic signal starts the preemption sequence. The second strategy uses the pedestrian-omit feature to prevent the controller from activating the pedestrian interval if there is not sufficient time in advance of the start of the preemption sequence to provide full pedestrian clearance.

Author : Tapan K. Datta
Publisher :
Page : 93 pages
File Size : 17,35 MB
Release : 2013
Category : Highway-railroad grade crossings
ISBN :

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The coordination of highway-railroad grade crossing warning signals with nearby traffic signals is of vital importance due to potential safety consequences. Interconnections between traffic signals in close proximity to railroad crossings provide an important safety function by allowing the railroad warning system to preempt the normal traffic signal operation and provide special phasing to clear vehicles queued over the railroad tracks, prohibit others from joining the queue, and maintaining traffic flow for non-conflicting traffic movements. In Michigan, there are approximately 200 interconnected highway railroad grade crossings that are all under regulatory control of the Michigan Department of Transportation. The MUTCD provides guidance concerning the use of preemption where the signalized intersection is within 200 feet of a railroad crossing. There is however, minimal guidance for locations where intersections are more than 200 feet beyond the railroad crossings. Some of these locations experience queuing problems due to high traffic volumes. The purpose of this research was to compile and review literature and current practices related to interconnected traffic signals and preemption in order to determine solutions for providing safe and efficient timings for the traffic signals and nearby highway-railroad grade crossing warning signals. A series of highway-railroad intersection configuration templates was developed as a part of this research. A set of guidelines was also developed with accompanying software to provide additional assistance for identification of possible interconnection locations that could utilize preemption concepts. The guidelines also assist in the determination of signal timing parameters for the phasing and timing design required as a part of the concept.

Author : Hanseon Cho
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 47,85 MB
Release : 2004
Category :
ISBN :

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Because the operational characteristics of signalized intersections near highway-railroad grade crossings (IHRGCs) are different from those of signalized intersections located elsewhere in the traffic system, standard operational strategies do not apply. This is because safe operation at IHRGCs takes precedence over all other objectives. Because the prime objective of the current preemption methods is to clear the crossing, secondary objectives such as safe pedestrian crossing time and minimized delay are given less consideration or ignored completely. Consequently, state-of-the-practice strategies may cause serious pedestrian safety and efficiency problems at IHRGCs. Therefore, there is a definite need for research on how to improve traffic signal preemption strategies. An important element of preemption strategy is detection of trains and prediction of arrival times. However, because of the limitations of current detection technologies, estimation algorithms, etc., there is a wide range in these warning times. In this dissertation, a new train-arrival prediction algorithm was developed using detection equipment located farther upstream from the HRGC. The state-of-the-art transition preemption strategy (TPS) was developed to ensure that as preemption is initiated by approaching trains, the signal display does not change in a manner that endangers either pedestrians or drivers. However, because it does not account for the variability of predicted train arrival times, there is still a possibility of failure. Therefore, a new transition preemption algorithm that is specifically designed to improve intersection performance while maintaining or improving the current level of safety is developed. This dissertation developed a preemption strategy (TPS3) that uses better train arrival time estimates to improve the safety and efficiency of IHRGCs. The approach was simulated on a test bed in College Station, Texas, and it was concluded that the new TPS improves the safety and operation of intersections near highway-railroad grade crossings.