Simulation of traffic light disruptions in street networks

Abstract

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) use information technology and control devices like traffic lights and sensors to help commuters in achieving flow coordination, improving safety and smoothness in mobility and providing valuable information to public managers. But ITS devices are not free of vulnerabilities against cyber-attacks and failures. The impacts of traffic light disruption will be different for different street network structures. Complex network analysis can be used to evaluate critical infrastructures like street networks, revealing patterns of flow distribution, path redundancy, efficiency and robustness. But, at the present moment, the correlations between street network topology and the impact of traffic light disruptions were not sufficiently addressed in the literature. This work aims to evaluate the role of topological configuration and resilience of street networks when subjected to traffic light disruption, 50000 trips were simulated using three attack strategies that prioritize traffic lights based on complex network centrality metrics. Complex street, network analysis is used to interpret the results of the trip simulation.