Traffic control process of expressway by fuzzy logic

Abstract

There are many complicated and fuzzy situations in the case of controlling the traffic flow on an urban expressway. Data obtained by traffic detectors and information about other roads all should be considered to determine the best operation. The control of an urban expressway, therefore, has been dependent upon skilled operators' judgement and decision. The objective of the study reported here is to describe the judgement process of the operator by fuzzy logic and to suggest a traffic control system that could determine the pattern of on-ramp control of the expressway automatically. Establishing a fuzzy logic traffic controller according to a real operation process would be valuable to decrease the work load of the skilled operators who make decisions every time, and helpful to develop a more effective operation procedure. In this study, a simple fuzzy reasoning model for on-ramp control is constructed. The actual operating data were gathered on Hanshin Expressway. The Osaka-Sakai route is the example route on which the performance of the model is examined. As a result of the study, it becomes clear that the fuzzy logic traffic controller system is effective to describe and take the place of human operators. In addition, improvement of the model and a total system of fuzzy traffic control is suggested.