Urban transportation networks in many cities will continue to experience enormous pressures because of population growth. As a result, the level of service at many signalised intersections will decrease to unacceptable levels within the next 20 years. Continuation of traffic growth over this period will necessitate intersection improvements. Previous research provided a simple methodology (the sketch-planning process (SPP)) based on cost-effectiveness to determine the optimum intersection improvement plan. During the automation of the SPP, many improvements were introduced. These improvements include (a) determination of the exact future year an intersection fails to meet requirements, (b) determination of the intersection's failure mechanisms, and (c) ability to simulate periodic signal timing optimisation. A case study illustrates the automated SPP (ASPP) software package, which is a quick and efficient implementation tool that helps planners to rate intersection improvements. This package will enable planners to determine right-of-way needs before development makes costs prohibitive.
Samenvatting