The white sands and serene waters of Tampa and Clearwater have just become more reachable with more time spent there rather than on the road, thanks to Rhythm’s revolutionary adaptive signal control system In|Sync.
The system covers 26 unsignalized intersections along a stretch of five miles, implemented along Pinellas County’s 66th Street that runs North-South, and crossing the East-West Ulmerton Road and Park Boulevard.
Unlike the standard arterial installation, In|Sync now conquers traffic along side streets, and it makes all the difference.
Prior to In|Sync’s installation, this area experienced high levels of commuting and recreational traffic to Tampa and Clearwater coming from I-275 and SR-19, carried by the two arterials Ulmerton Rd. and Park Blvd. The County determined these intersections to be the corridor’s critical points, as they experience the highest levels of stops and delays, accompanied by frequent congestion.
All this changed with the introduction of In|Sync to the corridor. The results of the configuration were an overall decrease in travel time (avg. 20.3% for the southbound; 10.5% for the northbound) and a reduction of delays (avg. 12.24 min) in both directions during all time periods studied.
Not only that, but since In|Sync does not use traditional cycle lengths, it offers a quick solution by serving the approaches on multiple occasions (i.e. preventing spillbacks or longer queues). The average queue length at Ulmerton Rd. decreased for all approaches and time periods, except westbound through movements during PM peak and off-peak. However, on the eastbound approach the cut was almost 15 vehicles per lane. The Park Boulevard intersection average queue length also decreased for the northbound and southbound approaches.
It does not stop there—queue storage ratios and traffic flow rate percentage improved, especially for Ulmerton Road’s eastbound AM peak; the Park Boulevard intersection showed significant improvement on queue storage ratios for the southbound right movement during all periods, as well as a reduction in the number of cycles with spillback at both critical intersections.
Overall, the installation of In|Sync has enhanced the level of service for the corridor and its critical intersections, by reducing travel time, delays, queue lengths, and the number of cycles with spillback.