City of Seattle implements SCOOT adaptive traffic management

Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has implemented a new adaptive traffic control system at 32 intersections along Mercer Street between 3rd Ave W and I-5, which has been one of the city’s most congested corridors for over 40 years. Developed by the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory, the SCOOT (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) system coordinates the operation of the traffic signals in and around the corridor to help vehicles move more efficiently. SCOOT works in real-time to reduce delay
May 2, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has implemented a new adaptive traffic control system at 32 intersections along Mercer Street between 3rd Ave W and I-5, which has been one of the city’s most congested corridors for over 40 years.


Developed by the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory, the SCOOT (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) system coordinates the operation of the traffic signals in and around the corridor to help vehicles move more efficiently.

SCOOT works in real-time to reduce delays and adapt to changing traffic volumes, such as congestion caused by nearby sport or concert events. The system detects cars in each lane at every intersection. It determines traffic levels, predicts the flow of traffic and adjusts the amount of time available to each movement through the intersection. The result is more effective and responsive signal operations. SCOOT provides significant benefits:

• Quicker, more reliable travel times through the network
• Enhanced transit operations
• Reduced overall emissions and fuel consumption
• Effective management of traffic fluctuations due to special events

To assess the how well SCOOT is working, vehicle data is being collected daily and compared to historical averages. Reporting periods include the three-hour morning and evening peak travel times in both the eastbound and westbound directions during the five-day working week. From the data received to date, drivers travelling east during peak times are experiencing a six per cent increase in morning travel time reliability and 38 per cent in the evenings.

“This new system will adjust signal timing based on traffic in and around Mercer in real time. We know Mercer is the busiest corridor in the city,” said SDOT Director Scott Kubly. “SCOOT will help reduce the traffic backups we’ve seen along Mercer and help keep people moving.”

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Benefits of Florida's traffic signal retiming
    November 7, 2012
    Lee County in Florida has consolidated dramatic results of a major traffic signal retiming with installation of advanced monitoring and management technology for generating further benefits. The Lee County Department of Transportation (DOT), in the US State of Florida, has completed retiming of traffic signals for over 50 intersections in the cities of Fort Myers and Bonita Springs. The project aimed to evaluate existing operations and enable adjustments to optimise flows, and has produced dramatic results
    Read More
  • Trafficware triumph in Fremont tender
    June 13, 2016
    Trafficware has announced here at ITS America 2016 San Jose that following a competitive bid, the city of Fremont has selected the company’s central traffic management ATMS.now technology and will also add SynchroGreen adaptive signal technology on a 2.2-mile stretch of Fremont Boulevard. The bid team was led by Trafficware’s exclusive distributor for northern California Western Pacific Signal (WPS) and the project will replace an older system. The new technology is scheduled to be deployed by late first
    Read More
  • I-80 Smart Corridor sets the ITS standard for California's Bay Area
    March 23, 2015
    Colin Sowman looks at California’s ‘smartest’ road which will open this spring to counter congestion and accidents on one of the Bay Area’s busiest interstates. Interstate 80 (I-80) is one of the busiest roads in the San Francisco Bay area with up to 270,000 vehicles using the corridor every day. The section between the Carquinez Bridge in Crockett and the Bay Bridge not only suffers congestion during the working week but also at weekends. Traditional remedies such as building additional lanes (there are al
    Read More
  • I-80 Smart Corridor sets the ITS standard for California's Bay Area
    March 23, 2015
    Colin Sowman looks at California’s ‘smartest’ road which will open this spring to counter congestion and accidents on one of the Bay Area’s busiest interstates. Interstate 80 (I-80) is one of the busiest roads in the San Francisco Bay area with up to 270,000 vehicles using the corridor every day. The section between the Carquinez Bridge in Crockett and the Bay Bridge not only suffers congestion during the working week but also at weekends. Traditional remedies such as building additional lanes (there are al
    Read More

Highlighted Content