A Traffic Light Signal Control System with Truck Priority1*This work has been supported in part by the National Science Foundation under the CPS program and in part by the University Transportation Center METRANS at University of Southern California.

Abstract

Abstract: This paper proposed and evaluated a traffic light control system for signalized urban intersections that aims to benefit all traffic flows involved by giving priority to trucks. The problem is motivated from the observation that in some cases extending a green traffic signal to have a heavy truck cross an intersection instead of forcing it to stop and restart again may have benefits for all vehicles involved. The proposed traffic light control system uses a co-simulation optimization control approach to generate the traffic light sequence in a network of signalized intersections. The system has been evaluated using a road network simulator adjacent to the twin ports of Long Beach/Los Angeles. The evaluation results show consistent improvements in reducing the overall traffic delays, number of vehicle stops, fuel consumption and vehicle emissions.