Skip to main content

Benefits of SMART Signal system

Developed by researchers led by civil engineering associate professor Henry Liu at the University of Minnesota, the SMART Signal (Systematic Monitoring of Arterial Road Traffic Signals) system is said to be reducing congestion on roads controlled by traffic lights. The system automatically collects and processes data from traffic signal controllers at multiple intersections. It then creates performance measures, including information on the times and locations congestion occurs on a given road. Traffic eng
October 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Developed by researchers led by civil engineering associate professor Henry Liu at the University of Minnesota, the SMART Signal (Systematic Monitoring of Arterial Road Traffic Signals) system is said to be reducing congestion on roads controlled by traffic lights.

The system automatically collects and processes data from traffic signal controllers at multiple intersections. It then creates performance measures, including information on the times and locations congestion occurs on a given road.  Traffic engineers can use these measures to determine whether signals are properly timed and to monitor the overall performance of the system.

SMART Signal has been deployed at more than thirty intersections in Minnesota and six intersections in Pasadena, California.

According to Steven Misgen, metro traffic engineer at the 2103 Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), the system also has benefits for the travelling public, including reduced congestion and improved travel time throughout a given corridor.

“As a result, they’ll have a better quality of life, [spending] less time sitting in congested intersections,” Misgen says.

A new video from the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Institute highlights the benefits of the system: %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.its.umn.edu/Research/FeaturedStudies/smartsignals/index.html#SMARTSignal Smart signals false http://www.its.umn.edu/Research/FeaturedStudies/smartsignals/index.html#SMARTSignal false false%>

Related Content

  • August 20, 2014
    Enhanced WISETRIP final event
    The Enhanced WISETRIP final event, which takes place in Brussels on 29 August, will provide an opportunity to showcase the achievements of the Enhanced WISETRIP project and contribute to the debate on priorities for delivering EU-wide multi-modal travel information. Enhanced WISETRIP has developed a unified intermodal planner for international journeys which incorporates functions for planning, booking and travelling multimodal journeys adapted to user needs including multiple trip criteria, environment
  • December 7, 2012
    ITS America free webinar series: Connected vehicles and the environment
    The third webinar of the AERIS autumn/winter 2012-2013 webinar series will take place on Wednesday, 12 December 2012 at 1:00 pm EST. The webinar will provide an overview of the draft concept of operations for the dynamic low emissions zones transformative concept. As part of the AERIS program's efforts to develop ways in which real-time transportation system data could improve the operation of the surface transportation network, six transformative concepts, or bundles of applications, were identified. Each
  • April 23, 2013
    Intelligent motorcycle warns rider of hazards
    An instrumented motorcycle is on display at ITS America as part of a joint project with Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the US Motorcycle Foundation. The Honda Goldwing motorcycle has been fitted with smart display which warns the rider of vehicles ahead braking sharply, vehicles in the blind spot, approaching intersections and other hazards.
  • March 26, 2014
    Citilog and Signal Group sign strategic alliance
    France’s Citilog and Signal Group of the US yesterday signed a ‘strategic alliance’ to combine their technologies, with the aim of delivering advanced ITS video analytics solutions to the North American market. Citilog will combine its capabilities in video analytics with Signal Group’s expertise in traffic controllers, with the first product designed to reduce traffic waiting times at intersections through the integration of real-time queue length calculation into adaptive intersection control.