Impact of Different Patterns of Red Signal Countdown Timer on Drivers' Startup Behavior

• Published in: Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies Vol. 12; pp. 1619 - 1636
• Main Authors: WISETJINDAWAT, Wisinee, FUJITA, Motohiro, TOMOMATSU, Masayoshi, NODA, Koji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies 2017
• Subjects: Countdown Timer; Red Light Violation; Startup Delay
• ISSN: 1881-1124
• DOI: 10.11175/easts.12.1619

Countdown timers can reduce startup delays and improve queue discharge, however researchers have reported an increased occurrence of red light violations in the presence of such timers. In this study, we conducted an experiment in order to examine whether it's possible to retain the benefits of the timer while limiting the problem of red light violations at startup, as the signal switchess from red to green. We investigated the impacts of seven different patterns of timer display, and no timer, on drivers of different characteristics (i.e. sex and age group) under an in-rush situation. The evaluation criteria include the influences of the timers on the startup delay and the occurrences of anticipated startup. From the findings, counting down every second and switching to a plain red light a second before green (1sR) lowered the occurrence of red light violations at startup from that of a general countdown timer.