Traffic-Light Control at Urban Intersections Using Expected Waiting-Time Information

We consider an optimal traffic-light control framework for urban traffic intersections to alleviate congestion phenomena. We analyze a scenario in which we provide drivers with information about the waiting time at the intersections. We model the drivers’ lane-changing information-based behavior as the solution of a convex optimization problem. We compute the optimal traffic-light control mechanism as the solution to a bi-level optimization problem. We provide a complete analysis in terms of (i) the existence of a solution; (ii) an iterative algorithm to compute it; (iii) sufficient conditions for the solution’s uniqueness and the algorithm’s convergence. Early simulation results show the proposed control scheme’s effectiveness compared with an optimal control algorithm in the absence of waiting-time information.