As I wait at a traffic signal to turn green in peak hours, I have noticed something peculiar. Even the last vehicle crossing the intersection before signal change is seen to be crawling. In my opinion this should not be the case. The commuter sequence at the intersection mostly seems to go like this.

• You wait at the signal for the light to turn green.
  
• As it turns green, there is a time lag before your vehicle starts moving.
  
• As the turtle pace starts to improve, the signal is again red and you stop but do not turn off the engine as it is likely to turn green again soon.
  

While there are automated traffic signal management systems in other parts of the world (that sense traffic density and react), India does not have them yet. For traffic management, each intersection has its own timer activated at different frequencies which might be altered based on time of the day. Traffic police person mans the important intersections and also decides if lights/ timers should be used at all. While I am not exposed much to the art and science of manual traffic management, my thinking for peak times with manual management without auto-timers goes like this.

• As traffic starts moving in one direction, it should be allowed to reach a speed of 30 kmph or so before the signals change. When the speed reaches 30 kmph, more number of vehicles pass the intersection per second.
  
• As the signal is switched, the moving traffic in the new direction should again be allowed to reach a 30 kmph speed.
  
• The traffic flow rate is finally dependent on average speed at the intersection.
  
• Even for a single commuter's experience, It is better to wait longer, and then move once and clear the signal in one motion rather than crawl and stop multiple times. People shall save fuel in this approach as they can turn the vehicle off and relax for some time.
  
• The views are based on normal circumstances. There might be several other factors to be taken into account like traffic congestion upstream or downstream, VIP movement etc.
  

If you put on your lean six sigma hat, the above theory is similar to batch processing being recommended against single piece flow (in this case). Allowing small duration intermittent flows does not help the cause as the changeover time has its adverse impact. The simplest mistake proofing solution to ensure continuous flow is to eliminate signal switch and have flyovers everywhere. While flyovers may take their own sweet time to appear or may not be feasible at some places, there should be a good manual traffic management approach in use at important interrsections that create bottlenecks.

Traffic policemen at intersection may have their own approach towards signal switching which I am unaware about, but I do observe often that the speed of moving traffic at the time of signal change is very low.

I invite your views and participation on this subject.

• Do you also feel the same way as I do for manually controlled traffic intersections?
  
• Does this situation seem to have any parallels with organizational processes?
  

Benchmark Six Sigma is the best in class provider of Lean Six Sigma and Project Management training and consulting solutions. Have a look at why benchmark six sigma to know more about us.

Hello VK. In my opinion, it is better to have automated signal system at most junctions and manually controlled at important junctions. I remember reading about implementation of traffic density controlled signals in India but don't know when.

As I wait at a traffic signal to turn green in peak hours, I have noticed something peculiar. Even the last vehicle crossing the intersection before signal change is seen to be crawling. In my opinion this should not be the case. The commuter sequence at the intersection mostly seems to go like this.

• You wait at the signal for the light to turn green.
  
• As it turns green, there is a time lag before your vehicle starts moving.
  
• As the turtle pace starts to improve, the signal is again red and you stop but do not turn off the engine as it is likely to turn green again soon.
  

While there are automated traffic signal management systems in other parts of the world (that sense traffic density and react), India does not have them yet. For traffic management, each intersection has its own timer activated at different frequencies which might be altered based on time of the day. Traffic police person mans the important intersections and also decides if lights/ timers should be used at all. While I am not exposed much to the art and science of manual traffic management, my thinking for peak times with manual management without auto-timers goes like this.

• As traffic starts moving in one direction, it should be allowed to reach a speed of 30 kmph or so before the signals change. When the speed reaches 30 kmph, more number of vehicles pass the intersection per second.
  
• As the signal is switched, the moving traffic in the new direction should again be allowed to reach a 30 kmph speed.
  
• The traffic flow rate is finally dependent on average speed at the intersection.
  
• Even for a single commuter's experience, It is better to wait longer, and then move once and clear the signal in one motion rather than crawl and stop multiple times. People shall save fuel in this approach as they can turn the vehicle off and relax for some time.
  
• The views are based on normal circumstances. There might be several other factors to be taken into account like traffic congestion upstream or downstream, VIP movement etc.
  

If you put on your lean six sigma hat, the above theory is similar to batch processing being recommended against single piece flow (in this case). Allowing small duration intermittent flows does not help the cause as the changeover time has its adverse impact. The simplest mistake proofing solution to ensure continuous flow is to eliminate signal switch and have flyovers  everywhere. While flyovers may take their own sweet time to appear or may not be feasible at some places, there should be a good manual traffic management approach in use at important interrsections that create bottlenecks.

Traffic policemen at intersection may have their own approach towards signal switching which I am unaware about, but I do observe often that the speed of moving traffic at the time of signal change is very low.

I invite your views and participation on this subject.

• Do you also feel the same way as I do for manually controlled traffic intersections?
  
• Does this situation seem to have any parallels with organizational processes?
  

Benchmark Six Sigma is the best in class provider of Lean Six Sigma and Project Management training and consulting solutions. Have a look at why benchmark six sigma to know more about us.

Hi,

 

This is very interesting topic, especially for people staying in bangalore, as I do!

 

My observation of manually controlled traffic intersections:

- When the light turns Green, the traffic police waits, till most of the vehicles are cleared in that direction, then he changes to another direction, there also (After turning to Green light), he waits till most of the vehicles have moved out from that direction

 

So far, it's working well (Again this is my opinion) for Bangalore traffic system.

 

The best approach should be sequence of signals, i.e., once the Green light appears in 1st intersection (for a limited time - depending upon the vehicle movements), the next (2nd) intersection light will be turned green, by the time, the vehicles are very near to this intersection (which have come from 1st intersection).

In fact, this system was there in Bangalore (From Hebbal to International Airport) road. Now it's discontinued, as flyover work is in progress!

Hi,

 

A traffic policeman controlling traffic at an intersection is likely to do better than an automated system which relies only on time durations to change signals ; when a policeman directs traffic, he very rarely stops flow in one direction until the flow decreases below a threshold ; when he sees that the next vehicle will reach only after a few seconds, he stops flow from that direction, and changes in another direction.

 

An automated system can change from green to red even when the traffic flow is quite high , which is why it takes some time before vehicles whose signal has turned green can actually start moving , since vehicles are still driving in the direction whose signal has already turned red.

 

One part of the problem is the usual Indian indifference to breaking the law ; abroad , where signals have a timer display associated with them , when a driver sees the time approaching 0 , he / she is likely to slow down so that they don't jump the red signal ; here in India , it is more often the contrary ; when a driver sees the time nearing 0 , they are likely to speed up , so that they can make it!

Its fine, the manual way of traffic management. There are no better sensors than the human intelligence and doing most practical thing at that spur of the moment, like in the case of traffic policemen. May be we could sensitize the traffic police teams from time to time and involve them with their suggestions as well.

I have a different opinion. While this may seem plausible for roads with few traffic signals, it may cause issues in stretches of roads where the traffic signals are too many and too close by. Longer waits at one signal cause a waterfall effect and traffic piles up at the preceding intersection causing more pile-ups. In this situation, i.e in most busy areas in cities, the best possible solution is to move the traffic in pockets.

 

To step back, what causes the slow movement of traffic? If the first vehicle were to accelerate quick enough, there is no reason why the ones behind will not. The reason the first vehicle cannot do this is vehicles at the "just-turned-red" and are frantically trying to jump signals, as legitimately as possible (oxymoronic, I know). If this were to be brought in control, my view is moving them in small pockets, in busy junctions, is a better approach.

 

Will sign off with the ants modus-operandi. One almost always follows the other until the first one encounters yet another and in the opposite direction and waits for, what the heck, a quick chat. This stops every other and in that line (quite marvellous I think). If the opposite and wasn’t there in the first place, the ants wouldn’t have piled-up.

My two cents.

Hi VK,

an excellent observation, I come from the most populated city [in terms of personal vehicle penetration] of our country - New Delhi and off late traffic police have done few things like:-

• Changing Two way traffic to One way
  
• Increasing duration of red light / green light and displaying it [minimum 30 sec to 180 secs] - the variance is also visible in peak and non peak hours
  
• Minimum manual intervention i.e. constable controlled.
  
• At least one traffic police constable posted on red light so that offenders don't jump
  
• Implementation of Camera's on important junction [along with full force, like bikers and Gypsies / Qualies]
  
• Posting traffic updates in Facebook regarding any major break down [this helps folks to change route], along with usage of FM channels also.
  

in overall scenario, what i have observed is that no matter how wide roads we have or how automated the system is, the important thing is the discipline which is required, with proper lane system that should be followed.

regards,

Zeeshan

Hi VK,

 

In my view the traffic lights need to have sensors which tell how much of a traffic density is there at the given junction, if the traffic density is above a given level, the sensors would switch the signal for the time so that last vehicle to moves on.

 

All the traffic signals in a given route need to be integrated with each other so that each traffic lights function in an activity dependent on the previous and the latter traffic signals & corresponding density. Manually controlled traffic signal is based on the given junction density, which i feel is a drawback as compared to integrated traffic lights which can be automated.

Hi V.K

Hope you are doing good!!

 

It may sound a little kiddish, but without making this topic and solution more complex and by judging the traffic sense and ethics of public i would recommend hard barriers as seen on railway crossings (Auto/Manual), so that when ever there is a Red signal these barriers will stop people crossing the intersection and let the people/vehicle in other direction move easily without pulling breaks while crossing the intersection (Which usually happens as people who have been shown the red signal don't stop)

 

Once the traffic has been cleared let the barriers open for other direction. This will also help to the people crossing footpath and will also help to reduce accidents.

Now it's up to installers, how they want this to operate, manually or automatically. I will suggest let's try this by doing so manually first and if succeeded then can install an automatic system.

 

Now, coming to the point, for your question, i will say that in our traffic system we have both ways, an automatic signal system as well as police men to put some manual efforts, however this will tell us different stories at different places, at some places its working properly while at some places this doesn't work. I would like to recommend that the automatic system is working properly, however, the manual efforts are needed there so that the situation can be handled appropriately.

Regards,

 

Durgesh

Hi VK,

 

First thing that arises is the cause and need of traffic signal? (which is to reduction in congestion/blockage and smooth execution of traffic flow ---[Monitoring And Controlling and Phase])

As there are many views regarding the implementation of traffic signal system. so, to reach a solution with minimal congestion and blockage first thing we can do DOE with different alternatives.

 

Important Factors should be considered during analyzing:

1. Usage of the roads
2. Types of vehicles
3. Peak timings
4. Speed Limits
5. Traffic diversions and intersections

Now if we ask any customer would they will prefer to wait for 3-5 mins in red signal or to struck for about 30-45 mins in congestion/blockage? The answer will be definitely the first option. We all know that whenever we stuck up in such place then it takes how much time sometimes time will be in hours not in minutes.

So for solutions, we should first find the general cause which leads to this situation and its frequency.

 

After case study, we will be in a state that during peak hours and due to the signal changing time as the main cause. Even single congestion will lead to repeated congestions and which leads to Traffic Failure.

 

What happens in reality:

There will be different types of vehicles with different speeds on the road. in traffic, there will be another component that is different directions. suppose in a traffic few vehicles are about to take right or U-turn then for moving to this direction the time differs from vehicle to vehicle for the bike it will take less time but for trucks and busses, it will take more times. and the signal changing time is 30 secs so if a truck or bus stuck in that position and opposite way signals changes to green then that will be the starting point of congestion which will lead to high blockage. and suppose the time would have been 3 mins then it would have been lessened. And also lane barrier near traffics (intends to go straight or left should be on left and intend to take right or U-turn should be inside the barrier on right side.

so by increasing the time for signal changes and following lane discipline will minimize the problem.

There is a lot of research going in the US called dynamic traffic modelling, which will change the dynamics of traffic soon when implemented.

Hi! VK,

A very apt Topic in this age of Traffic Caos.

When you mention that it has to reach 30 KMPH, you are focussed on one Traffic signal only. What happens to the Traffic queue which would reach the next signal & then jams the previous Signal. Therefor it needs a Holistic approach.

I think I have something here looking at the way how to best utilize the existing automated signaling, In most of the cities in India the situation is more or less the same and most of the situations are mentioned in the above posts.

 

Just like the signal turning from Green to Red will go to Amber as a warning to stop any signal jumps, the signal turning from Red to Green should stay on Amber for few seconds to make the traffic alert to get on to expected speed and catch the momentum so that there are no blockages and it's not a surprise even the timer is not available or traffic is not looking at.

Dear Mr. VK,

 

Nice topic and a nice discussion!.I live in Banglore, according to me here manual changeover works better than automatic because of consistent traffic in most of the areas.However, switchover time between green to red(duration of yellow light) should be set based on the time taken for crossing from one end to another which is varying from one area to another.

Hi, This is very interesting topic, especially for people staying in bangalore, as I do! My observation of manually controlled traffic intersections: - When the light turns Green, the traffic police waits, till most of the vehicles are cleared in that direction, then he changes to another direction, there also (After turning to Green light), he waits till most of the vehicles have moved out from that direction So far, its working well (Again this is my opinion) for Bangalore traffic system. The best approach should be sequence of signals, i.e., once the Green light appears in 1st intersection (for a limited time - depending upon the vehicle movements), the next (2nd) intersection light will be turned green, by the time, the vehicles are very near to this intersection (which have come from 1st intersection). Infact, this system was there in Bangalore (From Hebbal to International Airport) road. Now its discontinued, as flyover work is underprogress!

Dear Mr.VK Nice topic and a nice discussion!.I live in Banglore ,according to me here manual changeover works better than automatic because of inconsistant traffic in most of the areas.However switchover time between green to red(duration of yellow light) should be set based on the time taken for crossing from one end to another which is varying from one area to another.

Syncronizing the traffic signals along the main arteries, if done, ensuring that the vehicle can move at least at 50KMPH will ensure that there is a faster movement and also a constant movement which will also ensure that the main arteries would decongest faster. This was there in Bangalore as early as early '80s, in specific arteries, but then deregulation happened and switch to manual came about. Only the traffic cops can explain why this didnot work for them!.

Hi, This is very interesting topic, especially for people staying in bangalore, as I do! My observation of manually controlled traffic intersections: - When the light turns Green, the traffic police waits, till most of the vehicles are cleared in that direction, then he changes to another direction, there also (After turning to Green light), he waits till most of the vehicles have moved out from that direction So far, its working well (Again this is my opinion) for Bangalore traffic system. The best approach should be sequence of signals, i.e., once the Green light appears in 1st intersection (for a limited time - depending upon the vehicle movements), the next (2nd) intersection light will be turned green, by the time, the vehicles are very near to this intersection (which have come from 1st intersection). Infact, this system was there in Bangalore (From Hebbal to International Airport) road. Now its discontinued, as flyover work is underprogress!

Dear Mr.VK Nice topic and a nice discussion!.I live in Banglore ,according to me here manual changeover works better than automatic because of inconsistant traffic in most of the areas.However switchover time between green to red(duration of yellow light) should be set based on the time taken for crossing from one end to another which is varying from one area to another.

Syncronizing the traffic signals along the main arteries, if done, ensuring that the vehicle can move at least at 50KMPH will ensure that there is a faster movement and also a constant movement which will also ensure that the main arteries would decongest faster. This was there in Bangalore as early as early '80s, in specific arteries, but then deregulation happened and switch to manual came about. Only the traffic cops can explain why this didnot work for them!.

Hello Mr.Khatri,

 

My opinion regarding this issue is to create a queuing model for each junction. And then customizing the junction traffic system.

Earlier queuing models for trunk calls were successfully implemented then in that case why not for our traffic system. this is not only save fuel but also the precious time, vehicle wear and tear and majorly free flow of traffic in congested regions.

If I remember well there were 4 routes of this in Bangalore before the metro project started in central Banglore.

 

Their routes are as Follows:

1. From raj bavan (le meridian) to hebbala flyover (this route is made signal free now by the use of flyovers and magic underpass (the worst Kaveri junction
2. JC road(Minerva point) MG road till Kids camp old building this route is at 40kmph at regular time and 25 kmph at peak hrs this route also branch out and functional from corporation (Hudson bay to Richmond Road ) Mysore bank road till shanthala junction
3. MG road Kumbly circle (I don't know this route more as I have not traveled a lot
4. West of cord road from yeswanthapura to Nayandan halli junction. This route is at the pace of 30kmph and 20 kmph if you try to go in these routes you will find yellow paint painted at the junctions most of the areas particularly in richmend road to corporation area this was the intiative done in banglore and worked out even today from minerva to Quens road.

If you start from JC road at speed of 30kmph you will stop next only at Ulsore gate police station signal the signals you miss are-

• Siddaya junction
• Shivaji theater signal
• Town Hall
• Corporation
• Hudson Bay
• Malya road junction on Kasturba road as I have experienced in most of the case this was success fully implemented around 6 to 8 yrs back in Banglore but all went in vain due to B-Trac Poor maintenance

Hey guys by reading all the suggestions and problems I found out a Wild Idea Instead of suggesting and saying this and that. Why don't we club together (Banglore Guys -as I stay in Banglore) and make a virtual model Based on Data and conjunction points to find out the real route cause for bottle neck and provide a solution to the concerned authorities may be a huge point for Utilizing learning and practice six sigma tools and methodology at the same time share Knowledge and workout may be a huge project itself of its kind I am ready to be a part of the team and support with my knowledge and ideas any one can take Initiative to start the project by defining the scope of the project.

 

My contact mail id is: [email protected]

Hope someone takes the initiative and I will be the first person to join

This call is not only to Bangalore even I am ready to join any group in the forum to start

 

Regards,

Harsha.S

Hello VK,

 

As per me the Pre requisite before implementing the Dynamic or Manual signal system is to make the Lane discipline as mandatory and we should have good roads at least minimum pot holes. This improvement will reduce the traffic congestion by 20%. For example near NGEF, Traffic congestion are increasing due to bad roads and lane discipline.

 

The second point is the completion of the projects which are taken to improve the traffic conditions, in this case, I will appreciate the work done near Yeshwanthapura and Nelamangala Toll road.

 

At present I am in Shanghai, I have seen less traffic congestion as the road are good but in few areas slow moving traffic because of no lane discipline.

Once the basic is ready then we can go for automated traffic signals which will further improve the traffic conditions.

 

Regards,

Guruprasad

Hi,

 

I would think rather than have the traffic at one direction move till it attains a speed of 30 kmph which may be about 8 to 10 mins and then let the next direction traffic move, a smaller batch size may actually be more beneficial in this case:

1. The speed is not only a factor of time but other parameters like vehicle size, road condition the distance from the next junction etc. These are possibly muri which can be removed (but given the condition in our country its not very likely to be)
2. Longer waiting at signals tempts the ones getting the red light to break the signal as he has to wait a while before he can move.
3. Long waiting traffic at the signal creates a situation akin to dust settlement in a pipe line thus congestion. Typically in a traffic, the bikes and rickshaw would wind their way in front through the gaps between vehicles when the signal is red and move up. When it turns green, these vehicles do not have the required power (especially ricks) to move fast thus the inertia.
4. The ideal example of small batch size can be seen in round abouts abroad. The batch size is two or three and they pick up speed almost instantaneously.

The main disadvantage is that the net gas consumption would be higher as all the vehicles would have their engines on most of the time.

As I wait at a traffic signal to turn green in peak hours, I have noticed something peculiar. Even the last vehicle crossing the intersection before signal change is seen to be crawling. In my opinion this should not be the case. The commuter sequence at the intersection mostly seems to go like this.

• You wait at the signal for the light to turn green.
  
• As it turns green, there is a time lag before your vehicle starts moving.
  
• As the turtle pace starts to improve, the signal is again red and you stop but do not turn off the engine as it is likely to turn green again soon.
  

While there are automated traffic signal management systems in other parts of the world (that sense traffic density and react), India does not have them yet. For traffic management, each intersection has its own timer activated at different frequencies which might be altered based on time of the day. Traffic police person mans the important intersections and also decides if lights/ timers should be used at all. While I am not exposed much to the art and science of manual traffic management, my thinking for peak times with manual management without auto-timers goes like this.

• As traffic starts moving in one direction, it should be allowed to reach a speed of 30 kmph or so before the signals change. When the speed reaches 30 kmph, more number of vehicles pass the intersection per second.
  
• As the signal is switched, the moving traffic in the new direction should again be allowed to reach a 30 kmph speed.
  
• The traffic flow rate is finally dependent on average speed at the intersection.
  
• Even for a single commuter's experience, It is better to wait longer, and then move once and clear the signal in one motion rather than crawl and stop multiple times. People shall save fuel in this approach as they can turn the vehicle off and relax for some time.
  
• The views are based on normal circumstances. There might be several other factors to be taken into account like traffic congestion upstream or downstream, VIP movement etc.
  

If you put on your lean six sigma hat, the above theory is similar to batch processing being recommended against single piece flow (in this case). Allowing small duration intermittent flows does not help the cause as the changeover time has its adverse impact. The simplest mistake proofing solution to ensure continuous flow is to eliminate signal switch and have flyovers everywhere. While flyovers may take their own sweet time to appear or may not be feasible at some places, there should be a good manual traffic management approach in use at important interrsections that create bottlenecks.

Traffic policemen at intersection may have their own approach towards signal switching which I am unaware about, but I do observe often that the speed of moving traffic at the time of signal change is very low.

I invite your views and participation on this subject.

• Do you also feel the same way as I do for manually controlled traffic intersections?
  
• Does this situation seem to have any parallels with organizational processes?
  

Benchmark Six Sigma is the best in class provider of Lean Six Sigma and Project Management training and consulting solutions. Have a look at why benchmark six sigma to know more about us.

Hi VK, this interesting thing and I feel this is experienced by most or all of us when we come on the roads...Yes the major challenge is we do have the automatic signal system in most of the places in India but they are operated by trafic constables manually and thats what interesting and also leads to long wiating times and increaed traffic problems and jams....this can be avoided if wherever the automatic signals are available they should be operated automatically only as they have installed there after doing lot of analysis.

Hello,

Well, I found this topic very interesting with ambiguous data, like we didn’t consider the signal just beyond and behind the current signal as they do have a vital impact on the congestion at current signal. In my opinion:

1. At first we should implement timer on each signal for signal switch from green to red and vice-versa: This is to avoid time lag because of engine start when signal turns green.
   
2. Two sequential signals must have some pre decided distance, for example take it as a 1 km, but again it depends on the area: This is to avoid congestion on next signal when present signal turns into green while next signal is red from long ago.
   
3. Create different lanes just by mark on road or putting fiber on road to guide vehicles who wants to turn left or right: This to avoid congestion because of turning vehicles to the vehicles need to go straight or vice-versa.
   
4. Mark police duty on important/large signals: This is to maintain discipline, as the changes never happens abruptly, and meanwhile to change the rigid peoples mentality we need supervisor or later we can change it from manual supervisor to electronic supervisor.
   
5. Many times two parallel roads have been connected by more than one roads and they are not at much difference, we may make those as one way (alternative roads), one for going in and next to come out (again it depends on scenario, if it’s not a congestion area we need not to do it).
   
6. Some time just to take U-turn there is a queue on signals; we may make U-turn points on road as well which will be close or open depending upon road’s current traffic situation.
   

Hi VK,

Hope you are doing fine!

 

This is an interesting process improvement challenge brought forward and in the notice to all of us for applying our thoughts and capturing various options for this challenge.

1. The first option would definitely be to install an automated traffic management system which senses the volume of vehicles coming and automatically adjusts the timing for the signal change.
2. Second is the manned management of the traffic signal by traffic police, where he manages the vehicle crossing by visually evaluating the vehicle volume(demand) and using his judgement of time (cycle time) it takes to cross the signal by vehicle...thereby matching to an extend the takt time required to ensure that there is no traffic congestion at signal and ensuring smooth flow of vehicles with minimum batch size...since it would not be traffic efficient & environment friendly here to maintain a single piece flow.
3. The third option of mistake proofing could be to have flyovers at such traffic signals to do away with the automated signal management or manned traffic management by traffic police.

On 09/05/2013 at 2:48 PM, Rajesh said:

Hi,

This is very interesting topic, especially for people staying in bangalore, as I do!

My observation of manually controlled traffic intersections:

- When the light turns Green, the traffic police waits, till most of the vehicles are cleared in that direction, then he changes to another direction, there also (After turning to Green light), he waits till most of the vehicles have moved out from that direction

So far, its working well (Again this is my opinion) for Bangalore traffic system.

The best approach should be sequence of signals, i.e., once the Green light appears in 1st intersection (for a limited time - depending upon the vehicle movements), the next (2nd) intersection light will be turned green, by the time, the vehicles are very near to this intersection (which have come from 1st intersection).

Infact, this system was there in Bangalore (From Hebbal to International Airport) road. Now its discontinued, as flyover work is underprogress!

Hi, Rajesh, thanks for sharing this. Sequencing of signals should be workable in several key areas.

Regards,

VK