Improving traffic control through simulation and operations research
Date
1975
Authors
Taylor, Robert John
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Abstract
There are two major problems involved in traffic control in an urban area. The first is the adjustment of the individual signals to maximize the number of vehicles passing through the intersections in a given period of time. The second problem concerns the synchronization of the. lights so that traffic can flow with minimal delay.
The problems of improving traffic control are dealt with in three stages. First it is shown that with only minor assumptions being made the problem of maximizing the traffic flow through the individual intersections can be treated as a linear programming problem. In the second stage, the problem of synchronizing the signals with each other to minimize delay is examined through the use of a computer model to simulate traffic flow along a roadway between two intersections. In the final stage several methods of synchronizing the signals are evaluated. The procedures developed are applied to data for the City of Victoria.