Dilemma at Signalised Junctions

Delays and queues at signalised junctions are the major problems facing motorists across the UK today. It causes frustrations to the motorists when they have to wait for a long time before been able to cross the junction. Many micro simulation models like VISSIM have now been adapted by transportation professionals to investigate the delays and queues at junctions and also study the driver behaviour at the onset of amber. This research investigates the delays and queues at signalised junctions for different amber scenarios using microsimulation model – VISSIM. This investigation covers two major signalised intersections along the Colinton Road that connects part of the south to the north of Edinburgh. The investigation also looked at the behaviour of each individual vehicle crossing the intersections at the onset of amber for peak and off peak period. The results obtained from the simulation shows that there are queues and delays on the network for all the amber scenarios. The study concluded that selecting the appropriate amber settings for each signalised junction will depend on the City Council’s priority in terms of either reducing delays or queue lengths at the intersections.