https://ak-me.com/SigRelease.html

Ever wondered if the way you release vehicles in a traffic microsimulation actually matters? This interactive visualizer lets you explore the difference between Random Uniform and Negative Exponential release functions in real-time.

Watch as vehicles are released using two different headway distributions and observe how they behave as they encounter two traffic signals 1,500 feet apart. The key insight? The first signal acts as a “traffic meter” that smooths out the initial release pattern – whether uniform or exponential – before vehicles reach the downstream signal.

• Adjust arrival rates to see how demand affects the patterns
• Toggle the first signal on/off to observe its metering effect
• Change signal timing to test different coordination scenarios
• Watch the histograms to see arrival headway distributions converge

As explored in our detailed analysis, while uniform and negative exponential release functions create different initial patterns, signalized intersections naturally meter traffic by translating virtual queues into physical queues. This means the downstream arrival patterns become remarkably similar regardless of the initial release function.
The simulation below demonstrates this phenomenon in action. Run it for 200+ seconds to see the distributions stabilize and converge.