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NICTA is developing new methods of traffic control to improve coordination between signals and to achieve greater efficiency at individual intersections and across a city’s overall road network.

Current traffic control methods tend to be backward-looking; they control the traffic assuming that the traffic conditions are the same now as they were 10 minutes ago. Most of the time, this assumption is valid, but at often during the day -- at the start of the rush hour for instance – such assumptions do not allow the system to react quickly to changes in demand.

NICTA’s research will help traffic control systems react as quickly as the traffic changes:

• Smart sensors -- including those being developed by NICTA -- will allow us to observe congestion levels and detect the onset of queuing.
• By modelling how vehicles move through the network, we will be able to predict when traffic released at one set of lights will arrive at the next.
• The controller will implement that traffic light schedule which minimises the overall delay by selecting from a multitude of possible traffic light combinations and timings.

NICTA is applying the most up-to-date methods from computer science and mathematics to produce better traffic light schedules. The result will be more efficient, reliable travel and reduction in traffic flow interruptions at intersections.

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NICTA's Smart Transport and Roads Project is a collaboration with the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales, developer, supplier and end-user of the world leading SCATS traffic management system.

Contact
Dr Phil Kilby

+61 2 6267 6309
phil.kilby@nicta.com.au