SURF (Systeme Urbaine de Regulation des Feux) is a centralised urban traffic control (UTC) system, installed in the 1960s and extended and upgraded several times since then. In 1996, it was fully redesigned, all its established functional features were organised round a database, its capacity was increased to 2000 junctions, and it was renamed SURF 2000. SURF 2000 is one of several tools for dynamic traffic control in Paris, which not only has a road network with signal-controlled junctions, but also the Boulevard Peripherique ring road, with links to motorways, dual carriageways along the banks of the River Seine, and several underground roads. Most of the dynamic traffic management in Paris is conducted from three traffic control centres, one of which accommodates SURF 2000 and an urban video camera management system. The actions taken by SURF 2000 consist of global actions to optimise the network as a whole (macrocontrol actions), and local actions at junction level (microcontrol actions). Macrocontrol is performed at zones where traffic is uniform. Microcontrol can be applied immediately at junction level for special purposes. The system has already produced 20% lower journey times, 30% fewer vehicle stops, reduced pollution, and 10% less fuel consumption.
Abstract