Urban traffic control: present and the future

Faced with the great stride of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in particular in the utilization of the Internet and advances in data gathering methods, the application of the ICT in Transport and Traffic is getting ever more pervasive and is providing more opportunities in managing and controlling traffic more efficiently, equitably, flexibly and more dynamic in detecting and responding to varying traffic demand and environmental concerns. ICT is one of the best tools in assisting network management and control to achieve the most desirable network performance for these goals. As the behaviour of the road users can be influenced by the information received through V2X communication, how to incorporate the behavioural change especially with regard to speed advisory into the future control system is discussed in this paper. This paper first shows two real examples in China in coordinating traffic control to general green waves in large and complex networks to reduce journey time and fuel consumption, it then moves to briefly describe the simTD project conducted in Germany and the VS-PLUS controller used in the project. VS-PLUS is a parameterized control method, very flexible in meeting a variety of management and control objectives and to configure to deal with diverse traffic conditions. Its flexibility keeps it open to build a higher level of intelligence. Finally, the paper proposes to include vehicle speed as an endogenous parameter in optimizing traffic control and then introduces a Urban Traffic Control system configuration using the system jointly developed from a partnership between the Key Laboratory for the Ministry for Public Security of China for Optimal System Integration and Control at the Anhui Keli Information Industry Co. Ltd and the Verkehrs-Systeme AG of Switzerland.