Development of advanced traffic signal control strategies for intelligent transportation systems: multilevel design

The development of advanced traffic signal control strategies suitable for advanced traffic management within Intelligent Transportation Systems is described. The strategies consist of a multilevel design for the real-time, traffic-adaptive control of an urban signal network. This design permits the system to be built up gradually to offer varying degrees of responsiveness, depending on particular network and traffic characteristics. The more advanced control levels in the hierarchy incorporate the capabilities of the lower control levels. A principal goal of the multilevel design is to invoke a selected control strategy when it can provide the greatest benefits and thus maximize the overall effectiveness of the system.