Ped-MP: A Pedestrian-Friendly Max-Pressure Signal Control Policy for City Networks
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 150, Issue 7
Abstract
Decentralized traffic signal controls, such as max-pressure (MP) control, also known as back-pressure (BP) control, have received increased attention recently. MP signal control has been analytically proven to maximize the network throughput and stabilize vehicle queue lengths whenever possible. However, previous work on MP signal control with cyclic and noncyclic phases did not include pedestrian access, which may increase pedestrians’ travel time, and delay or even encourage some dangerous behaviors like jaywalking. Because the movement of pedestrians is a nonnegligible factor in traffic management, and many urban planning researchers have found that walking space and walking continuously have significant health, safety, and environmental impacts, a pedestrian-friendly MP signal control policy is needed. Here, we propose a novel pedestrian-friendly MP signal control, Ped-MP, that considers pedestrian access in an urban network to achieve both maximum stability for private vehicles and a comfortable, safe walking experience. This study modifies the original MP control to include pedestrians’ access for the first time. Furthermore, this policy still inherits the decentralized property of original MP control, which means it only relies on the local information of individual intersections. Simulation studies are implemented on a popular benchmark network, the Sioux Falls network, with added pedestrians network. The results indicate that, although considering pedestrians’ access may reduce the stable region for vehicles, the pedestrians’ travel time and delay can be reduced significantly.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation, Award No. 1935514 and the support of Hsiao Shaw-Lundquist Fellowship of the University of the Minnesota China Center. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the amazing book written by Boyles et al. (2023). The core concept, knowledge, and coding design were leveraged from Chapter 9, Dynamic Network Loading.
Author contributions: The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: T. Xu and M. Levin: conception. T. Xu and M. Levin: methodology. B. Yashveer and T. Xu: software, experiment design, and simulation. B. Yashveer: visualization. T. Xu and B. Yashveer: analysis and interpretation of results. T. Xu, B. Yashveer, and M. Levin: draft manuscript preparation. T. Xu, B. Yashveer, and M. Levin: validation. T. Xu, B. Yashveer, and M. Levin: writing review and editing. M. Levin: supervision. M. Levin: funding acquisition. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 150 • Issue 7 • July 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 3, 2023
Accepted: Jan 16, 2024
Published online: Apr 30, 2024
Published in print: Jul 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Sep 30, 2024
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