www.usa.siemens.com/mobility
Tyler, Texas, reduces traffic
congestion in its commercial district
ACS Lite Adaptive Control manages district’s unpredictable traffic flow
Meeting traffic congestion concerns
The citizens of Tyler, Texas, a mid-sized city in East Texas,
were unhappy with the increased traffic congestion created
by the growth of the city’s commercial district and its limited
access to freeways.
In a public survey conducted in 2006, citizens voted the
city’s traffic congestion problem as the most significant
quality of life issue.
In response, a Traffic Congestion Committee was formed to
evaluate options to reduce congestion along its South
Broadway Avenue corridor, where numerous stores,
restaurants, a school and other businesses made traffic flow
unpredictable. Since building more roads was too costly, the
committee sought to identify a traffic management solution
that leveraged existing infrastructure and didn’t cause
additional strains on the city’s limited resources for operation
and maintenance of traffic signals.
After evaluating a number of solutions, the Siemens ACS
Lite Adaptive Control Solution was chosen as the most
effective way to address the congestion issue. The system’s
ease of use, low cost, proven results and compatibility with
existing controllers made it a good fit for the city’s needs.
The city was also interested in using Siemens because of their
extensive experience with the creation and continued
development of adaptive control technology both in the U.S.
and abroad. In addition, Siemens was able to support them
as they made decisions to expand the system to additional
intersections.
Tyler citizens now experiencing reduced travel delays
Prior to the implementation of ACS Lite, the Tyler traffic
operations team was reacting to citizen complaints. However,
with adaptive control technology, traffic issues have reduced
and the city has received fewer motorist complaints. This has
enabled the city’s transportation staff to focus on the system
performance and addressing other critical issues.
Most importantly, the city is seeing a reduction in travel
time by 22%, in traffic delay by 49% and in stops by 50%
along the traffic corridor. These reductions result in an
annualized benefit to users of $1,628,342.
Pleased with the results, the city is currently expanding its
use of Siemens adaptive control technology to signals
along the east and west sections of the City’s Loop 323
roadway. The city expects continued traffic optimization
improvements.
Success Story
Implementing ACS Lite
Tyler’s surface streets are laid out in a hub and spoke or
chariot wheel configuration, with Highway 323 serving as a
major arterial loop around the city and Highway 69 providing
northerly and southerly access from the city’s center to
suburban retail, commercial and residential area south of
Highway 323.
ACS Lite was initially installed in 2007 on 16 intersections
along Highway 69 and Highway 323. The city has since
expanded implementation to more than 30 intersections, and
continued expansion of the system is currently being
implemented.
Changing signal timings in real-time
The corridor’s previous traffic system did not change timing
plans automatically to keep up with the corridor’s
unpredictable traffic flow. With ACS Lite, changes to the
signal timing can be made in real-time.
The software is designed to adapt the splits and offsets of
signal control patterns along an arterial corridor. Periodically,
ACS Lite optimizes splits and offsets by a few seconds,
resulting in reduced delays, fewer stops and less fuel
consumption for citizens.
Ease of use and maintainability
The city’s traffic engineering and maintenance staff had no
experience with adaptive control technology prior to this
project. With training provided by the Siemens team, the
city’s staff was able to control the system at its optimal level
of operation.
ACS Lite is easy to configure through an HTML browser-based
user interface. Seventy-five percent of the configuration data
is uploaded directly from the local controllers. After
uploading this configuration data, the user configures links,
ring sequences and detectors and then the system is ready to
use for adaptive control.
After each cycle, the system displays are updated to provide
the performance status of each and track the changes made
to the splits and offsets. In addition, the software archives its
performance measures and decisions to a data store for
future analysis and retrieval.
Complete mobility solutions that keep America moving
The Siemens Mobility and Logistics Division provides
solutions to customers related to the management of traffic,
transport and logistics. This includes railway automation,
infrastructure logistics, intelligent traffic and transport
systems, and technologies for developing the infrastructure
for electric mobility.
Siemens is your partner to develop an intelligent and
economical transportation solution that will increase the
quality of life in your city by improving safety, energy
efficiency and traffic flow, while generating capital that
can be invested in additional infrastructure upgrades.
With the most comprehensive portfolio of integrated
transportation products, services and solutions, Siemens
keeps America moving.
Siemens reserves the right to alter any of the Company’s products or
published technical data relating thereto at any time without notice. All
trademarks are property of Siemens or their respective owners.
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Austin, Texas 78754
Tel: +1.512.837.8300
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Success Story