Optimal control of urban air pollution related to traffic flow in road networks

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the most important environmental problems nowadays. In large metropolitan areas, the main source of pollution is vehicular traffic. Consequently, the search for traffic measures that help to improve pollution levels has become a hot topic today. In this article, combining a 1D model to simulate the traffic flow over a road network with a 2D model for pollutant dispersion, we present a tool to search for traffic operations that are optimal in terms of pollution. The utility of this tool is illustrated by formulating the problem of the expansion of a road network as a problem of optimal control of partial differential equations. We propose a complete algorithm to solve the problem, and present some numerical results obtained in a realistic situation posed in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (GMA), Mexico.