Modeling and Analysis of Urban Traffic System Based on Colored Petri Nets

Abstract

Colored Petri nets can be employed to model, simulate, and analyze systems with discrete, asynchronous and concurrent characteristics that are commonly featured by road traffic systems. In traffic systems, the vehicle routing problem and traffic lights signal control are essential issues that should be investigated. This work mainly studies the automatic vehicle route planning problems in a small-scale urban traffic system, in which traffic lights signal controls vehicles in a queue to pass through an intersection orderly. Based on the Colored Petri nets, a small-scale urban traffic system model with a 3 × 3 chessboard pattern network is established, which can realize the functions: automatic routes planning that leads the vehicles to the destinations, traffic accidents dealing, and traffic lights control that directs vehicles to queue up at intersections. Owning to the modular and hierarchical methods, the proposed model can be expanded conveniently in scale and functions according to demands, i.e., the model is universalizable and applicative for general traffic systems. Finally, the established model’s theoretical and practical values are demonstrated by system simulation.