Recent developments in area traffic control have been influenced by emerging new perceptions of the effects of urban traffic. BALANCE is a new adaptive traffic signal control method that allows for these new requirements, and is based on experience of operating various adaptive control methods. Its objectives are to integrate signal control into the management of a whole transport network, and especially to help traffic authorities to apply policies assisting multimodal operations. BALANCE is a distributed urban traffic control (UTC) system on two and potentially three levels. Its local level is concerned with individual junctions, and its tactical level is concerned with the network as a whole. It adapts to traffic, and each street signal controller incorporates the MicroBALANCE algorithm based on economic models. BALANCE has been designed to emphasise different priorities for different types of users. The BALANCE control method was developed under the Second Framework DRIVE/ATT LLAMD project of the European Union. It was tested in the COMFORT subproject at Munich, Germany, with good results. On the basis of these results, Munich decided to cooperate with the British cities of London, Glasgow, and Belfast in the Telematic Application Project TABASCO, to demonstrate and validate the BALANCE control method.
Abstract