Green Net Coordination for Pedestrian Corridors with Bounded Waiting

Abstract

We consider pedestrians who move along a corridor and cross the road at one of several signalised crossings. Such movement is often hindered by waiting at crossings, reducing walkability. Unlike vehicular green waves, which require coordinated progression through sequential intersections, pedestrians need to cross only once and may do so at any encountered crossing along their path. We study signal coordination that maximises vehicular throughput while guaranteeing that pedestrians can cross within a bounded waiting time. Signal timings are optimised using a genetic algorithm, and vehicular performance is evaluated using a Link Transmission Model. Results for two- and three-crossing corridors show that small waiting allowances substantially increase throughput, with the largest marginal gains at low waiting values. Increasing waiting also changes how pedestrian service is coordinated, shifting from distributed coverage across crossings towards concentrated service at fewer locations and shorter cycle times, as temporal waiting increasingly substitutes for spatial coverage.