Improvement of Traffic in Urban Environment Through Signal Timing Optimization

Abstract

A mean to control and optimize traffic in urban environment is adjusting signal timings of traffic lights. This paper presents a study of selected network in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria which network was modeled in the software environment AIMSUN, then optimized in the software environment TRANSYT and exported back to AIMSUN for validation of results. The experiment consisted in optimization of the signal timings – green splits and offsets that lead to improvement of eleven selected indicators. As the improvement of traffic have many aspects it is worth mentioning that this paper discuses only indicators of traffic such as queues, speed, travel time etc., but not the aspects of fuel consumption and environmental pollution. The later will be subject of future research as they are important issues in urban settings.