This paper describes how closed-loop traffic control systems can be operated by either Time-of-Day (TOD) mode or Traffic Responsive Plan Selection (TRPS) mode. Although TRPS mode can provide a more optimal and a snappier operation than the TOD mode, numerous parameters (i.e., weighting factors, scaling factors, thresholds, etc.) have to be set-up correctly for the system to work as intended. Determining optimal values of these parameters, however, is a difficult task. As a result, traffic engineers usually revert to the TOD mode due to its ease of setup. Previous research followed a system "tune-up" approach for setting-up TRPS mode. The tune-up approach is cumbersome, subjective, and often results in unexpected timing plan selections. This paper shows a novel approach for selection of optimal TRPS parameters. The proposed methodology was tested with data from a closed-loop system in Texas and resulted in 100 percent classification accuracy.
Abstract