Manual traffic control for planned special events and emergencies.

PDFTech Reporthttp://static.tti.tamu.edu/swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00113-1.pdfSWUTC/15/600451-00113-1o. Report 600451-00113-1DTRT12-G-UTC06Choice modelsDecision makingDisasters and emergency operationsHighway operationsManual controlPolice traffic directionSpecial eventsTraffic controlTraffic simulationVideoUnited StatesLouisianaFloridaUniversity of Texas at Austin. Center for Transportation ResearchTexas A&M Transportation InstituteParr, Scott A.Wolshon, BrianGulf Coast Center for Evacuation and Transportation ResiliencyLouisiana State University (Baton Rouge, La.). Dept. of Civil and Environmental EngineeringSouthwest Region University Transportation Center (U.S.)United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology AdministrationUniversity Transportation Centers Program (U.S.)US Transportation CollectionManual traffic control is a common intersection control strategy in which trained personnel,typically police law enforcement officers, allocate intersection right-of-way to approaching vehicles.Manual intersection control is a key part of managing traffic during emergencies and planned specialevents. Despite the long history of manual traffic control throughout the world and its assumedeffectiveness, there have been no quantitative, systematic studies of when, where, and how it should beused or compared to traditional traffic control devices.The goal of this research was to quantify the effect of manual traffic control on intersectionoperations and to develop a quantitative model to describe the decision-making of police officers directingtraffic for special events and emergencies. This was accomplished by collecting video data of policeofficers directing traffic at several special events in Baton Rouge, LA and Miami Gardens, FL. These datawere used to develop a discrete choice model (logit model) capable of estimating police officer\ue2\u20ac\u2122s choiceprobabilities on a second-by-second basis. This model was able to be programmed into a microscopictraffic simulation software system to serve as the signal controller for the study intersections, effectivelysimulating the primary control decision activities of the police officer directing traffic. The researchfindings suggested police officers irrespective of their location, tended to direct traffic in a similar fashion;extending green time for high demand directions while avoiding gaps in the traffic stream