Intelligent traffic light design and control in smart cities: a survey on techniques and methodologies

Abstract

Increased traffic in metropolitan territories has led to significant concerns, such as road blockage, transportation delays, pollution level, fuel consumption, etc. Traffic light signals at intersections, being a part of Traffic Management System (TMS) play an important role in effectively controlling traffic. The conventional pre-timed controlled traffic signals are becoming a bottleneck in clearance of intense traffic especially during rush hours. Adaptive Traffic Light Control (ATLC) has been outlined for quick traffic clearance at junctions, which could additionally be upgraded by giving right of approach to emergency vehicles. This survey summarises ATLC systems designed by leveraging the existing technologies such as WSN, VANET and image processing techniques to gather real-time traffic statistics, and evaluating the accumulated data to alter traffic lights with the aid of intelligent controllers. Keeping in mind the benefits of fuzzy logic in traffic control, this survey provides in-depth review of the fuzzy controllers in context to traffic lights at isolated and multiple intersections. Popular ATLC systems implemented worldwide are also summarised.