Forecast-augmented Route Guidance in Urban Traffic Networks based on Infrastructure Observations

Increasing mobility and raising traffic demands lead to serious congestion problems. Intelligent traffic management systems try to alleviate this problem with optimised signalisation of traffic lights and dynamic route guidance (DRG). One solution for the former aspect is Organic Traffic Control (OTC), offering a self-organised, decentralised traffic control system. Based on OTC, this paper presents two proactive routing protocols, resembling techniques known from the Internet domain, applied to the traffic routing problem: Distance Vector Routing and Link State Routing. These protocols were adapted to utilise forecasts of traffic flows to offer anticipatory and time-dependant DRG for road users. The efficiency of these protocols is demonstrated with simulations of two Manhattan-type road networks under disturbed and undisturbed conditions. The results indicate their benefit in terms of lower travel times and emissions, even under low compliance rates.