Citation

Allen P. ITE J. 2009; 79(4): 20-24.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Institute of Transportation Engineers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Traffic Engineering Department of DeKalb County, Georgia, is responsible for the operation and maintenance of 714 traffic signals (two-thirds of which are in coordinated systems), 300 school flashers and 74 intersection beacons. Since 2005, the county has had a formalized traffic signal preventive maintenance program. This paper highlights the maintenance activities undertaken by the county over the three-year life of the program in order to demonstrate the benefits of these preventive efforts. The first phase of the traffic signal preventive maintenance plan was to develop a standardized checklist for all preventive maintenance activities. The second phase involved rearranging the workday assignments of both the maintenance technicians and the construction crews. As part of the program, each traffic signal, intersection beacon and school flasher was formally inspected in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Components were cleaned and replaced as needed. In the first year following implementation of the preventive maintenance plan, signal malfunction calls were reduced 35.6% from 2005. Since signal malfunctions disrupt traffic, this translates into 1,482 fewer congestion hours in 2006. Statistics for 2007 are similar, indicating that the benefits from the preventive program far outweigh the initial start-up costs.