Organic Trac Control

University of Warwick, Warwick Business School, Coventry, CV47AL, UK,juergen.branke@wbs.ac.ukSummary. Urban road networks are an infrastructural key factor for modern cities.To facilitate an ecient transportation of people and goods, it is crucial to optimisethe networks’ signalisation and to route drivers quickly to their destination. Asroad networks are widespread and their trac demands are dynamically changing,adaptive and self-organising (and therefore organic) control systems are required.This article demonstrates the potential bene ts of organic trac control: It presentsan observer/controller that optimises an intersection’s signalisation and introduces aself-organising coordination mechanism that allows for the trac-responsive creationof progressive signal systems (or green waves). All presented mechanisms advancethe state of the art and help to reduce the negative environmental and economicalimpact of trac.