Arterial bandwidth maximization via signal offsets and variable speed limits control

Abstract

The problem of maximizing bandwidth along an arterial is here addressed by use of two combined control actions: traffic lights offsets and variable speed limits. The optimization problem has been enriched in order to account for traffic energy consumption and network travel time, thus avoiding impractical or undesirable solutions. A traffic microscopic simulator has been used to assess the performance of the proposed technique in terms of energy consumption, travel time, idling time, and number of stops. The theoretical bandwidth proves to be well correlated with idling time and number of stops, while the variable speed limits control shows interesting advantages in terms of energy consumption without penalizing the travel time. An analysis of the Pareto optimum has been carried out to help the designer choose a trade-off in the multi-objective optimization.