PRODYN: on site evaluation

The paper deals with the on-site evaluation of the PRODYN method. The idea of PRODYN was inspired by studies on the off-line computation of a short sample time optimal control of an intersection using backward dynamic programming. From that initial point, research has been conducted since 1978 it has consisted of: finding a suboptimal optimization method to compute the controls on-line; finding the best method for coordination of intersections controllers; developing a queue estimator; and improving the traffic model used. The simulation tests realized during this research showed the interest of the method, and on site experiments were conducted in 1987 on an isolated intersection and in 1988 on a 7 intersections network. The authors present the tested algorithm and describe the implementation of a PRODYN prototype on the system of the Zone Experimentale et Laboratoire de Trafic de Toulouse (ZELT). The authors also present the evaluation of the control strategy on the isolated intersection and the network