Analysis of intersection delays through vissim.case study of Mezar-i-Sherif, Afghanistan

Keywords: VISSIM, SIDRA, Signal Coordination, Signal Intersection, Delay, Queue As a key component at intersections, traffic lights play an important role in controlling traffic flow. Coordinating network intersections is one of the best ways to establish a smooth and continuous traffic flow. The delay time, queue length and travel time of the vehicles on arterial paths can be significantly reduced by means of signal coordinated junctions. Therefore, phasing of intersections and analysis of before and after signal coordination can be an important step in preventing congestion in a network. In this study; delay times and queue length parameters were analysed for the new structure obtained by revising the current geometric situation and signalling system at two intersections in an important city of Afghanistan, Mezar-i-sheriff, using two different VISSIM and SIDRA software's. In addition to these present and improved geometry scenarios, 40 different scenarios were also created to see the traffic characteristics of the current and future case to improve the service level of the network by reducing delay time and queue lengths through signal coordination. According to the analytical findings of the study, it was found that if the coordination is carried out between the first and the second intersection of Marmul Street before the geometric design is improved, the total vehicle delays for the system decreased by up to 3.36 percent. After improving the geometric design, total vehicle delays for the system decreased by up to 8.85 percent. When the current and the improved situation are compared, it was seen that, in the improved case, the delays in the total vehicle delays for the pre-coordination and after coordination system (network) decreased 51.78 and 54.51 percent, respectively. According to different traffic flow scenarios regression analyses were also carried out and the resulted R2 values representing linear relations` coordination were found to represent a strong relationship.