Coordinated control model for arterials with asymmetric traffic

Abstract

To alleviate the congestion caused by the tidal traffic and to improve the operational performance of both directions in arterials, this paper proposes a coordinated control model for arterials with asymmetric traffic demands in both oversaturated and unsaturated directions. The model utilizes a three-step architecture: (1) A mixed-integer linear programming model is built to maximize the throughput according to the relationship between traffic supply and demand as well as the balance between inflow and outflow. (2) A quadratic programming model is constructed to minimize the vehicle delay in the oversaturated direction based on Lighthill-Whitham-Richards theory. (3) A mixed-integer linear programming model is built to maximize the variable bandwidth in the unsaturated direction by introducing the relaxation variable. Furthermore, a three-step algorithm is used to solve the model and obtain the optimal arterial signal timing. Finally, a simulation model is put forward to verify the coordinated model. The results indicate that the model meet the asymmetric traffic demand through optimizing the arterial throughput, reducing delay in the oversaturated direction and maximizing the green wave bandwidth in the unsaturated direction.

Keywords:

• Arterial signal coordination
• asymmetric traffic
• mixed-integer linear programming
• oversaturated traffic control
• quadratic programming

Disclosure statement

The authors report there is no potential conflict of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFB1600200) and the Key Research and Development Program of Jiangsu Province, China (No.BE2020110).