EVALUATION OF URBAN TRAFFIC CONTROL IMPROVEMENTS BY TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY

TECHNIQUES IN THE TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY FOR THE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLIED AT TWO SPECIFICALLY SELECTED LOCATIONS WITHIN AN URBAN THOROUGHFARE SYSTEM. USING RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO OBTAIN VOLUME COUNTS AND MEAN SPEED AND SPACING DATA FOR A MAJOR URBAN ROADWAY; ALSO, FOR AN INTERSECTION REDESIGN PROJECT, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO QUANTIFY VARIABLES SUCH AS QUEUE AND INTERSECTIONS DELAY, LANE VOLUMES, AND DISTRIBUTION. USING STANDARD STATISTICAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES, 'BEFORE' AND 'AFTER' DATA WERE COMPARED TO DETERMINE WHETHER ACTUAL IMPROVEMENTS DID OCCUR DUE TO THE IMPLEMENTED CORRECTIONS IN THE FACILITIES. /HRIS/