Advanced Software Design and Standards for Traffic Signal Control

Abstract

Improved traffic management and control systems are widely reported to be cost‐effective investments. Simply retiming signals can provide significant benefits by reducing vehicle stops, travel times, and fuel consumption. The installation of advanced traffic management systems (ATMS) can provide even greater savings. However, many hardware and software obstacles have impeded the actual implementation of advanced traffic management systems. The general hardware and software limitations of current traffic signal control technology are reviewed. The impact of these deficiencies is discussed in the context of three example applications. Based on this discussion, the paper identifies several computing issues that should be addressed in order to reduce the effort involved with integrating existing traffic control devices. Adoption of standard industrial control computing platforms and development of new communication and software engineering models are recommended.