A learned paper at the popular JCT Traffic Signals Symposium in Nottingham this week will look at how to implement adaptive traffic optimisation, and importantly, how to analyse the before-and-after to check it does what it’s meant to do.

In the paper “Experiences with ImFlow in Cheshire East – challenges and successes”, John Ball from SWARCO and Jason Hole of Cheshire East Council will look at how the council engaged SWARCO to deploy its latest adaptive traffic optimiser, ImFlow, at several problematic junctions. These junctions were previously under Fixed Time, Vehicle Actuated or MOVA control.

John and Jason will explain how they were challenged to consider demands of different road users: Motorists wanted shorter more consistent journey times and fewer queues, bus drivers wanted priority over other road users and again more consistent journey times, cyclists wanted better facilities at junctions including priority over other road users and pedestrians and vulnerable road users wanted more crossing points and reduced waiting time for pedestrians and vulnerable road users.

The paper will not only explain what they did, but also how they analysed the effectiveness of their interventions using the ImFlow optimisation of a junction along with intelligent cooperation between junctions.  They will show how, using INRIX analytics tools to compare journey time data before and after ImFlow was implemented, they were able to quantify changes in journey times along key corridors, both in terms of average speeds of vehicles, and the total improvement to all traffic times across a day.

INRIX analytics tools uses hundreds of millions of anonymous vehicle movements per day to deliver granular insights on corridors and signal-controlled junctions.  It can be used to accurately and cost-effectively to evaluate the effect of the road and roadside technology improvement schemes, and was used by the Department for Transport to build the business case for the recent £50 million of funding to improve traffic signals through the Traffic Signals Obsolescence Grant and Green Light Fund.

John Ball from SWARCO and Jason Hole of Cheshire East Council will be speaking on Wednesday afternoon, 11 September, at the JCT Traffic Signals Symposium at Nottingham Trent University.

Both SWARCO & INRIX are exhibiting at the JCT Traffic Signals Symposium and are happy to talk with delegates about both ImFlow & Analytics tools, such as Signals Analytics.

(Picture – SWARCO)