Intelligent network traffic control by integrating top-down and bottom-up control

In the Netherlands, the common approach for road network traffic control is top-down control by applying so-called control schemes. However, it has several important drawbacks due to its centralized control nature. Only traffic control centers will decide the control scheme according to patterns observed in traffic. As the system is distributed over a network, bottom-up control is a good complement to top-down control by applying multi-agent distributed control. Transforming these elements into agents will make traffic respond much faster to change. This paper presents an approach to integrating both the bottom-up and the top-down control for road network traffic control systems. The combined approach can have all the advantages of both approaches and avoid their disadvantages. This approach has been applied in the operational traffic control system for the Dutch city of Alkmaar. It was developed at the Dutch traffic management company Trinite Automatisering B.V.