
Traffic congestion and hazardous intersections caused by inefficient signal timing pose significant challenges for cities worldwide. Traditional approaches—like field studies and manual traffic counts—often fall short, offering only snapshots of traffic performance without accurate, timely insights. Hardware based solutions like Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures (ATSPMs) are powerful but they come with high costs, significant infrastructure requirements, and limited scalability.
The result? Cities struggle to optimize traffic signal performance, improve intersection safety, and minimize environmental impacts of congestion efficiently.
Luckily, INRIX Signal Analytics offers a scalable, cloud-based solution that leverages connected vehicle and probe-based data to deliver actionable intersection insights—eliminating the need for costly infrastructure upgrades or resource-intensive field studies.
Traffic Signal Performance Measures: Challenges and Opportunities
For decades, traffic operations managers have relied on manual data collection, using traffic counts and field observations to assess signal performance. While these methods provides some insight, it is labor-intensive, costly, and only captures a limited snapshot of real-world conditions.
More advanced solutions, like ATSPMs, offer high-quality data but come with significant upfront costs for hardware installation and ongoing maintenance. Additionally, ATSPMs are typically deployed at only a small subset of intersections, leaving much of the network unmonitored.
As a result, cities often fall back on reactive management, addressing signal issues based on scheduled maintenance cycles or community complaints rather than real-time data. This delayed response leads to inefficiencies, increased congestion, and higher operational costs, making it difficult for cities to optimize signal performance effectively.
Limitations of Traditional Traffic Signal Management Approaches
- Manual Data Collection is Inefficient: Relies on labor-intensive traffic counts and field observations and only provides a limited snapshot of performance rather than continuous insights.
- ATSPMs Have High Costs and Limited Coverage: Require expensive hardware installations and ongoing maintenance and only provide insights for a limited number of intersections where they are deployed.
- Reactive Management Leads to Delays: Cities often rely on scheduled maintenance cycles or wait for community complaints to investigate and solve issues.
The Stakes are High for Cities
Poorly timed signals contribute to congestion, forcing drivers to spend more time idling in traffic, which decreases productivity and costs billions annually. Studies show U.S. drivers lose an average of 1 week each year to congestion, highlighting the need for better solutions.
Public safety is also at risk. Poorly timed signals can also increase the risk of traffic crashes, especially at busy intersections or high-speed approaches. Mistimed signals create confusion for drivers and unsafe conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, making timely adjustments essential to protecting lives.
The environmental consequences of signal inefficiencies are equally severe. Idling vehicles release significant amounts of greenhouse gases, worsening air quality and contributing to climate change. Optimizing signal timing can cut emissions by up to 20%, making it a crucial step toward meeting sustainability goals.
These challenges require innovative, data-driven solutions that go beyond traditional approaches. Cities need tools that enable timely insights systemwide to address these high-stakes issues effectively and proactively.
Key Challenges Cities Face When Trying To Improve Traffic Signal Performance:
- Limited Scalability: Most traffic management solutions are designed for isolated intersections or small networks, leaving larger systems underserved.
- Data Silos: Transportation agencies often lack the ability to integrate data from different sources, making it harder to make informed decisions.
The Power of Data-Driven Solutions that Leverage Vehicle Trajectory Data
The advent of robust vehicle trajectory data from connected vehicles and mobile devices provides unprecedented opportunities for optimizing traffic signals.
Solutions that leverage this data like INRIX Signal Analytics go beyond traditional methods by evaluating traffic signal performance continuously.
By analyzing this data, operations managers can proactively identify underperforming intersections, address inefficiencies, and improve city-wide performance—all without physical hardware or lengthy field studies.
Vehicle Trajectory Data Provides Numerous Advantages:
- Vast Data Availability: Connected vehicles and mobile devices continuously transmit location data, creating a detailed dataset of real-world traffic conditions.
- Continuous Monitoring: Platforms like INRIX Signal Analytics process this data in near real-time to quickly provide critical insights into performance trends and emerging issues.
What is INRIX Signal Analytics?
INRIX Signal Analytics is a cloud-based software application that uses anonymized GPS and connected vehicle data to help monitor and optimize traffic signal performance. It empowers cities to:
- Act on near accurate, timely insights for proactive interventions.
- Gain a comprehensive view of city-wide traffic performance.
- Reduce costs by avoiding expensive infrastructure or manual field studies.
Core Features of INRIX Signal Analytics:
- Comprehensive Intersection Analysis: Evaluate metrics like delay, arrivals on green, and turn movements.
- Scalable Network Coverage: Monitor hundreds of intersections or entire regions effortlessly.
- Fresh Insights: Access current traffic signal performance data for faster decision-making.
- Easy Deployment: No hardware required—fully cloud-based.
Metrics Provided Include:
- Arrivals on Green: Vehicles reaching intersections during green phases.
- Control Delay: The average delay experienced at intersections.
- Split Failure Counts: Vehicles unable to clear intersections during one signal cycle.
- Approach Speeds and Travel Times: Detailed metrics for corridors and intersections.
- Turn Movement Counts: The number of observed vehicles making right turns, left turns, and through movements at the intersection for a chosen time period
Why INRIX Signal Analytics is the Best Alternative (or Complimentary Solution):
Scalable, Cost-Effective, and Proven
One of the biggest advantages of INRIX Signal Analytics is its scalability. Unlike traditional methods that focus on individual intersections or require extensive infrastructure investments, INRIX Signal Analytics provides instant, network-wide insights using connected vehicle data. Cities can monitor entire transportation networks—from a few key corridors to an entire metropolitan area—without requiring costly hardware installations or complex integrations. This ability to quickly assess system-wide performance allows traffic managers to proactively identify and address issues, leading to more efficient and effective signal optimization.
Beyond scalability, INRIX Signal Analytics is also cost-effective. Traditional Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures (ATSPMs) demand high upfront costs for specialized sensors, controllers, and maintenance. INRIX Signal Analytics eliminates these expenses by leveraging existing connected vehicle data, removing the need for physical infrastructure. Additionally, it reduces labor costs by eliminating reliance on manual traffic counts and consultant-led field studies, making it a more budget-friendly and efficient alternative for cities of all sizes.
Another key advantage is rapid deployment. While ATSPMs and field studies can take months to implement, INRIX Signal Analytics can be up and running in days or weeks. This allows cities to act quickly, making immediate adjustments to traffic signal timing rather than waiting for lengthy studies or infrastructure upgrades.
The platform also provides detailed performance visibility at multiple levels. At the intersection level, traffic managers can pinpoint specific performance issues—such as excessive delay or split failures—with precision. At the city-wide level, they can gain a holistic view of signal performance across entire regions, making it easier to prioritize and allocate resources effectively.
Cities using INRIX Signal Analytics have already seen proven results. By leveraging fresh, networkwide insights, cities have reported significant cost savings, improved traffic flow, reduced delays, and lower emissions due to optimized signal timing.
Case Study: City of Austin Mobility Management Center (MMC)
The City of Austin used INRIX Signal Analytics to tackle challenges in maintaining efficient traffic flow while minimizing costs and environmental impacts.
By using INRIX Signal Analytics, Austin was able to save $1.2 million in taxpayer dollars in 2022 by avoiding costly infrastructure upgrades. Instead of reacting to reports of issues from road users, the MMC pivoted to proactively maintain and repair traffic infrastructure through the use of integrated dashboards and automated alerts. This allowed engineers to make data-driven decisions without the delays and expenses associated with traditional methods.
Beyond cost savings, Austin also made strides in reducing carbon emissions, helping the city advance its sustainability initiatives. By optimizing signal timing and reducing unnecessary vehicle idling, the city improved traffic efficiency while cutting greenhouse gas emissions—an important step toward its long-term environmental goals.
The ability to access timely insights proved invaluable for Austin’s traffic engineers, who can now proactively identify and address signal performance issues before they escalated. Instead of waiting for scheduled studies or relying on resident complaints, engineers had continuous visibility into traffic flow, enabling more timely and effective interventions.
Austin’s success with INRIX Signal Analytics highlights how cities can modernize traffic management without large infrastructure investments. By adopting a data-driven, scalable, and cost-effective approach, Austin demonstrated that smarter traffic management is both financially responsible and environmentally sustainable.
Key Outcomes:
- Saved $1.2 million in taxpayer dollars by avoiding costly infrastructure upgrades.
- Reduced carbon emissions, helping the city achieve its sustainability goals.
- Provided timely, networkwide insights to engineers, enabling proactive decision-making.
Austin’s success with INRIX Signal Analytics highlights how cities can modernize traffic management without large infrastructure investments. By adopting a data-driven, scalable, and cost-effective approach, Austin demonstrated that smarter traffic management is both financially responsible and environmentally sustainable.
Read the full case study here.
Why Choose INRIX Signal Analytics?
INRIX Signal Analytics transforms traffic management by removing barriers like high costs, time-intensive studies, and infrastructure dependency. With proven success in cities like Austin, the platform provides:
- Cost Savings: Reduce hardware and labor expenses.
- Improved Traffic Flow: Optimize signal timing across intersections and corridors.
- Environmental Benefits: Cut emissions by reducing vehicle idling.
- Scalability: Manage signals for entire cities or regions effortlessly.
Feature | INRIX Signal Analytics | ATSPMs | Field Studies |
Cost | Affordable, no hardware required. | High upfront costs | High labor costs |
Deployment Time | Days | Months for installation | Weeks to months |
Scalability | Entire networks covered | Limited to certain intersections | Limited to specific locations |
Data Freshness | High | High | Low |
Maintenance | Minimal (cloud-based updates) | Significant Upkeep | Not applicable |
Want to Take Signal Analytics for a Test Drive?
Discover how INRIX Signal Analytics can help your city save money, reduce congestion, and improve environmental outcomes—all with the power of real-time, data-driven insights.
To learn more about Signal Analytics, request personalized virtual demo or reach out to Signals@INRIX.com if you have specific questions.