Adaptive Traffic Signal Control Using Wireless Communications

This paper presents a novel method for adaptive traffic signal control. The method uses real-time data from wireless communication (dedicated short-range communication, DSRC) to estimate travel time for individual vehicles, with the objective in minimizing travel time throughout the controlled network. Approaching vehicles receive speed adjustment messages from the controller which enables them to avoid unnecessary stops, thus improving fuel economy and reducing emission. The control algorithm is based on approximate dynamic programming, and the signal control process is aperiodic. Microscopic traffic simulation is used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method against benchmark methods. The results show that enhanced awareness of traffic state using wireless data substantially improves performance of a simple junction and only hints at what may be possible in traffic management.