TRL has undertaken a wide ranging study for the Department of Transport of how to use Urban Traffic Control systems in congested road networks to improve traffic conditions in urban areas of the UK. The first approach was to investigate how best to use the traffic gating facility in SCOOT V2.4 to restrict vehicles approaching particularly sensitive parts of the road network and to provide guidance to users. Simulation studies were used to investigate the extreme conditions of congestion and link geometry under which the normal operation of SCOOT might not be optimum. A quantitative measure of the adverse effects of congestion. Wasted Capacity, was developed. This measure formed the basis of a computer program, MONACO, basis of a computer program, MONACO, to automatically analyse and diagnose the causes of congestion. The final approach was to investigate the potential of changing the objective function of SCOOT, under congested conditions, from minimum delay and stops to capacity maximisation. The sensitivity of the benefits to driver re-routing was investigated. (A)
Abstract