Traffic Flow Optimization on Freeways

Abstract

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs) are advanced technologies and applications integrated in transportation networks with the aim of creating a safe and efficient transportation environment. ITSs are developing both in the cities, that will become smart cities, and on freeways, by designing smart roads. Focusing on freeways, tollbooths currently represent serious challenges in many countries. Most commonly used payment toll systems create traffic congestion with the consequent increase of traffic pollution, time delays and negative results in terms of vehicular throughput and freeways’ efficiency. ITSs integrated with new arriving Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and novel toll collections designs, such as Open Road Tolling (ORT), could remove, or at least, mitigate these bottlenecks. This paper presents traffic flow models and algorithms implemented in IBM ILOG CPLEX Optimization Studio. Modeling and comprehensive investigation, using real data, brings advantages in terms of traffic throughput and optimization.