2001/07/03 by Elmar Brockfeld, Robert Barlović, Robert Barlovic +2 · 2 citations
Computer Science · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Cellular Automata and Applications #Traffic control and management #Transportation Planning and Optimization #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.64.056132
13 pages, 10 figures
arxiv created 2001/07/03 · openalex publication_date 2001/10/30 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study the impact of global traffic light control strategies in a recently proposed cellular automaton model for vehicular traffic in city networks. The model combines basic ideas of the Biham-Middleton-Levine model for city traffic and the Nagel-Schreckenberg model for highway traffic. The city network has a simple square lattice geometry. All streets and intersections are treated equally, i.e., there are no dominant streets. Starting from a simple synchronized strategy, we show that the capacity of the network strongly depends on the cycle times of the traffic lights. Moreover, we point out that the optimal time periods are determined by the geometric characteristics of the network, i.e., the distance between the intersections. In the case of synchronized traffic lights, the derivation of the optimal cycle times in the network can be reduced to a simpler problem, the flow optimization of a single street with one traffic light operating as a bottleneck. In order to obtain an enhanced throughput in the model, improved global strategies are tested, e.g., green wave and random switching strategies, which lead to surprising results.