Adaptive traffic signal control using fuzzy logic

The authors present a distributed approach to traffic signal control, where the signal timing parameters at a given intersection are adjusted as functions of the local traffic condition and of the signal timing parameters at adjacent intersections. Thus, the signal timing parameters evolve dynamically using only local information to improve traffic flow. This distributed approach provides for a fault-tolerant, highly responsive traffic management system. The signal timing at an intersection is defined by three parameters: cycle time, phase split, and offset. Fuzzy decision rules are used to adjust these three parameters based only on local information. The amount of change in the timing parameters during each cycle is limited to a small fraction of the current parameters to ensure smooth transition. The effectiveness of this method is shown through simulation of the traffic flow in a network of controlled intersections