Organic Traffic Control

Abstract

Urban road networks are an infrastructural key factor for modern cities. To facilitate an efficient transportation of people and goods, it is crucial to optimise the networks’ signalisation and to route drivers quickly to their destination. As road networks are widespread and their traffic demands are dynamically changing, adaptive and self-organising (and therefore organic) control systems are required. This article demonstrates the potential benefits of organic traffic control: It presents an Observer/Controller that optimises an intersection’s signalisation and introduces a self-organising coordination mechanism that allows for the traffic-responsive creation of progressive signal systems (or green waves). All presented mechanisms advance the state of the art and help to reduce the negative environmental and economical impact of traffic.