Current Developments in SCOOT: Version 3

Abstract

The SCOOT urban traffic control system is now operating successfully in more than 130 towns and cities worldwide. The latest version of SCOOT has been extended to include support for bus priority, the automatic SCOOT traffic information data base (ASTRID) system, and the INGRID incident detection system and has been given added flexibility, particularly for use in incident conditions. Bus priority in SCOOT was developed within the European Union DRIVE 2 project PROMPT. This software has now been issued as part of the latest SCOOT version, following the field trials in London and Southampton, United Kingdom, which showed that significant benefits to buses could be obtained. The ASTRID data base has now been integrated with SCOOT and can run in the same machine as the urban traffic control system. As well as providing current and historical information to traffic engineers, ASTRID now can feed historic information back into SCOOT, providing a substitute cyclic flow profile that can be used for optimization when there are faulty detectors. The INGRID incident detection system contains two algorithms to provide an indication of an incident; taking current information directly from SCOOT, INGRID detects abnormal changes in flow and occupancy, and comparing current information with historic information stored in the ASTRID data base, INGRID detects abnormal patterns in these parameters. The SCOOT optimizers have been made more flexible and can now make larger changes to the signal timings if required. This facility can be switched on or off and would be particularly useful where an incident has been detected.