Multimodal Microsimulation of Vehicle and Pedestrian Signal Timings

A simple hypothetical network is analyzed with a microsimulation model to study the effects of signal cycle timings on the delay caused to both vehicles and pedestrians. Various vehicle types and pedestrians are introduced into the network, and their complete journeys are captured in the data output. Fixed-time noncoordinated signal cycles are defined at controlled junctions. Vehicle flows and signal cycle durations are varied while the other parameters, including pedestrian green phase timings, are held constant. Travel time delay information is disaggregated for vehicles and pedestrians for different signal timing scenarios. The results show that no single signal cycle timing can optimize the network delay for all types of flows. However, if the objective is to minimize the travel delay for all travelers, it is possible to find the optimal signal cycle length on the basis of the relative proportion of people using different modes.