Demonstration-guided deep reinforcement learning for coordinated ramp metering and perimeter control in large scale networks

Effective traffic control methods have great potential in alleviating network congestion. Particularly, in an urban network consisting of heterogeneous roads (e.g., freeways and urban roads), how to integrate and coordinate control policies on different roads is a critical issue in largescale networks. This study addresses this question from two aspects: modeling and control. From the modeling aspect, we formulate the hybrid traffic modeling in heterogeneous networks with the Asymmetric Cell Transmission Model (ACTM) for freeways and the generalized bathtub model for urban roads. For the control aspect, this study considers two representative control approaches: ramp metering for freeways and perimeter control for urban roads, and we aim to develop a deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based coordinated control framework for largescale networks. However, there are two significant challenges in the coordinated control in large-scale networks with DRL methods: non -stationary environment and large search space. To address both issues, we incorporate the demonstration to guide the DRL method for better convergence by introducing the concept of "teacher"and "student"models. The teacher models are traditional controllers that provide control demonstrations. For instance, ALINEA and Gating are two representative feedback controllers for ramp metering and perimeter control which can be "teacher"models. The student models are DRL methods, which learn from teachers and aim to surpass the teachers' performance. Additionally, we develop a parallel training scheme to accelerate the proposed DRL method. To validate the proposed framework, we conduct two case studies in a small-scale network and a real -world large-scale traffic network in Hong Kong. Numerical results show that the proposed DRL method outperforms demonstrators as well as DRL methods, and the coordinated control is more effective than just controlling ramps or perimeters respectively. The research outcome reveals the great potential of combining traditional controllers with DRL for coordinated control in large-scale networks.