The concept of uniform movement of traffic

flows on the contour of city highways and

streets
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2439, 020018 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0068472
Published Online: 12 October 2021

Liudmyla Abramova, Hennadii Ptytsia, Valerii Shyrin, et al.

AIP Conference Proceedings 2439, 020018 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0068472 2439, 020018

© 2021 Author(s).
 The Concept of Uniform Movement of Traffic Flows on the
Contour of City Highways and Streets
Liudmyla Abramova b), Hennadii Ptytsia a), Valerii Shyrin c), Serhii Kapinus d)

Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University, Department of Traffic management and safety, 61002
Kharkiv, Ukraine.
a)
Corresponding author:gennadij.ptitsa@gmail.com
b)
abramova_ls@ukr.net
c)
shirin.valery@gmail.com
d)
skapinus13@ukr.net

Abstract. The paper proposes a new approach to determining the parameters of traffic control on the contour of city
highways and streets. This improves control efficiency by minimizing the total travel time on a network and reducing
environmental pollution. To determine the control parameters along the contour of the highways, simulation modeling
was carried out. It consists of sequential stages: construction of a geoinformation model of the contour of city highways
and streets; determination of the contour of city highways and streets; determination of the parameters of the traffic light
control cycle; determination of the redistribution of excess travel time in directions at intersections; determination of the
balance of the regulation cycle; determination of the phase shift of traffic light regulation by solving the optimization
problem using the Nelder-Mead method; reduction of transport delays and determination of the speed of uniform
movement on the contour of city highways and streets. For the practical implementation of the proposed approach, the
"contour" software has been developed. As a result of a model experiment on the contour of highways and streets of a
large city (for example, Kharkiv, Ukraine), the parameters of uniform traffic flow at a speed of 50 km/h were determined.
Determination of the effectiveness of the proposed control method was carried out in the VISSIM software product of the
PTV VISION company. The results obtained confirm an increase in efficiency owing to a minimization of time delays by
13%, emissions of harmful substances by 15%, and fuel consumption by 15% (during the simulation period).

INTRODUCTION
The process of efficient road traffic management is a topical issue nowadays. This is because it not only
improves road safety but also ensures that the city's transport network as a whole is functioning. [1, 2]. Taking into
account the characteristics of the city's transport network and the principle of information processing, there are
several interconnected types of management: by direction of traffic on the elements of the city's street network;
within an individual intersection; on an aggregate of intersections that are interconnected by the city's main arterial
road. The bulk of transport work in cities is carried out on the main arterial roads, which form the contours of the
network of streets and roads. Therefore, solving the problem of traffic management on the contour of highways is
relevant and timely. A high level of traffic flow service on highways is provided by equilibrium traffic speeds, a
reduction in the number of stops, reduced traffic delay times and improved environmental safety of cities as a
whole. [3].

SOLUTION TO THE ROAD TRAFFIC CONTOUR MANAGEMENT PROBLEM

The problem of contour control of traffic flows was formalised as follows.
From a mathematical point of view, the model of the tightly coupled programmed contour control in an
analytical form is represented by the following relation

Transport, Ecology - Sustainable Development EKO Varna 2021

AIP Conf. Proc. 2439, 020018-1–020018-8; https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0068472
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-4140-8/$30.00

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 A f (t , x, R) , 1)
A – coordination programme; t – daypart; x – function of the initial traffic flow characteristics and traffic
conditions; R – functional characteristics of the controlling influences of the traffic light system on the motorway.
The function of the characteristic of traffic flow and traffic conditions is as follows
x f ( N ij , V , Bcw , t ) , 2)
Nij – traffic intensity in j-th direction and at the j-th junction of the motorway(auto/hour); V – recommended
speed of traffic flow on the motorway (km/hour); Bcw – the width of the motorway carriageway (intersection and
interchange) (m).
The vehicle occupancy rate (ȝ) at the motorway crossings was determined by a function
h
P ¦ y ( x, R ) ,
i 1
i
3)

h – number of regulated overcrossings of the city highways; yi – function that determines the delay of vehicles at
the i-th motorway crossing.
The task of reducing vehicle delays on the motorway contour is solved by optimisation methods [4].
Then the target function is defined from the relation (3) as follows.
h

¦ y ( x, R) o min ,
i 1
i
x , R:
4)

ȍ – the permissible optimum values of the parameters.

%RXQGDU\FRQGLWLRQVWKDWGHILQHȍDUHH[WHQGHGWRWKHIXQFWLRQVWKDWFKDUDFWHUL]HWKHSDUDPHWHUVRIWUDIILFIORZ
driving conditions, and modes of functioning of technical means of road traffic control. And the multidimensional
vector of control coordination parameters has the form
R ^N , tij 0
i i i
`
, tn , tk , tci , Z i , M i , V , Bcw , 5)
i i i i
t0 ( x1 ) – time of the main tacts of the i-th traffic light facility; tn ( x2 ) – time of intermittent tacts of the i-th
i i i i
traffic light facility; tk ( x3 ) – duration of the control phases of the i-th traffic light facility; tc ( x4 ) – light
regulation cycle time of the i-th traffic light facility; Zi(t) – sequence of phases in the light control cycle of the i-the
i
traffic light facility at the time t; M i ( x5 ) – the shift in the phasing of traffic light control of the i-th traffic light
facility; V – traffic flow speed.
The generated boundary conditions of the optimization problem for bilaterally bounded parameters are as
follows
 
::R d R d R . 6)
The boundary conditions for the optimization parameters were obtained by calculating the parameters of the
traffic flow. The dimensionality of this problem is h×l (h – number of regulated overcrossings of the city highways,
l – vector dimension R ).
In order to solve the problem of coordinating the operation of traffic lights when equalizing the speed of vehicles
on highways of the street road network contour (SRN), a simulation model for determining the parameters of
uniform traffic movement of vehicles has been developed.
The input modelling parameters are selected on the basis of the results of the geo-referenced model of the city's
thoroughfares [5]: n – number of intersections; m – number of ferryings; Xk, Yk – coordinates of the k -th crossroads
on the plane, k =1, ..., n; LEW k, LNS k – horizontal crossing dimensions (east-west) and vertically (north-south);
N – intensity of traffic flows on the approaches to the crossroads; CH j, CK j – start and finish index of the j-th –
ferrying, j =1...n; Į– curvature coefficient of ferrying; lCH-CK, lCɄíCɇ – numbers of the traffic lanes on ferrying in
both directions; Vb CH-CK, Vb CɄíCɇ – basic speeds of the vehicles on ferrying.
The modelling process calculates the saturation factor in the approach direction to the crossing (Mk), the value of
which depends on the geometric parameters of crossroad and ferrying (yk) and takes the form:

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 ­0, ri 0
° 4
° N ˜ §1  6 · 1
¦
°j 1 kij ¨ ¸˜ ,
°° © LEWk  LNSk ¹ 1800
Mk ®ri z 0 š l (k , i ) 1 7)
° 4
° N ˜ §1  6 · 1
¦
°j 1 kij ¨ ¸˜ ,
© LEWk  LNSk ¹ 3000
°
°̄ri z 0 š l (k , i ) 2
l (k,i) – an auxiliary function, the value of which is equal to the number of swaps on the side of the i-th driveway
to the k-th crossroad; ri – indication of lanes on the i-th driveway to the crossroad.
The total or minimum required traffic light cycle time on the network section in the local mode is determined
using the value of the sum of intermediate strokes and the maximum values of the direction saturation factor by
phase
1,5TI  5
Tmin d 120, 8)
1  y13  y24
TI – totality of intermediate tacts; y13 = max (y1; y3) – the maximum value of the saturation coefficient in the
direction east-west (by the geoinformation model of the SRN); y24 = max (y2; y4) – the maximum value of the
saturation coefficient in the direction north-south.
At the next stage, the basic tactics of the traffic light control was calculated. The traffic light control cycle was
calculated for the two-phase mode of operation:
y 13
Tmin13 (Tmin  2TI ) , 9)
y13  y24
y24
Tmin 24 (Tmin  2TI ) . 10)
y13  y24
Network contour traffic control period chosen as maximum traffic light control cycle on the contour of the street
road network – Tmax m ax Tk  .
In order to implement contour control, the speed of vehicles on each ferrying of the motorway must be
determined based on the estimated transit time of the section
3, 6 L
V , 11)
't  zTmax
¨t – movement time by ferrying; z – integer.
The defined traffic light control time balance on motorways corresponds to the difference between the maximum
network traffic light cycle and the local control cycle at a particular crossroad (Ɍɿ)
Bk i Tmax  Tmin i . 12)
Then, in the control parameters of motion of the loop control, refer to: Ok – shift in the time of activation of a
traffic light object on the k-th crossroad (s); Bk – time balance between the command cycle of traffic light control
and traffic light cycle on the k-th crossroad; VCH-CK, VCK-CH – the speed of vehicles on the ferrying, to ensure a non-
stop flow of traffic (km/hour).
To determine the running time on the ferrying 'tCH CK provided that the vehicle arrival time at the intersection
of the motorway contour is proportional, the dependence is obtained
'tCH CK tCK  tCH  zTmax . 13)
The speed is then determined by the ratio of
3, 6 LCH CK
VCH CK . 14)
'tCH CK  zTmax

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 A computer model for determining the control parameters of the traffic flow process on a motorway contour is
developed to implement the contour control problem [6].
For the Road Traffic Management System, this approach was implemented by methods of parametric
optimization in a developed software environment, the steps of which are shown in the fig. 1 [7].

Geo-information model of the Determination of traffic light

Speed detection Speed limit
network contour control parameters (shift, balance)

Finding optimum parameters for Determining the delay on the

traffic light control contour crossings

FIGURE 1. Steps for determining the parameters of the countour control.

In order to obtain the parameters of the light and traffic light regulation on the network, an optimization problem
with limitations was solved. The target function is defined as a sum of squares of the real velocity deviations in the
combined intervals. Then, the area of optimization parameters limits defines an admissible interval of parameters
change in the multiplicity of values of each parameter, and the optimization criterion looks like
m

¦ (D
j 1
j  Fj )2 o 0 , 15)

§ a1 ˜ VCj ɇ  ɋɄ ·
¨ ¸
¨ a2 ˜ VCj Ʉ  ɋɇ ¸
Dj ¨ ¸, 16)
¨ a3 ˜ VC ɇ ɋɄ ¸
j

¨¨ ¸¸
© a3 ˜ VC K ɋɇ ¹
j

§ a1 ˜ Vb ,jC ɇ  ɋɄ ·
¨ ¸
¨ a2 ˜ Vb ,jC Ʉ  ɋɇ ¸
Fj ¨ j 1
¸, 17)
¨ a3 ˜ VC ɇ  ɋɄ ¸
¨¨ j 1 ¸¸
© a3 ˜ VC K  ɋɇ ¹
VCjK CH – speed in the appropriate direction on the j- th ferrying, j 1,..., m ; Vb ,jCK CH – Calculated speed that is
demanded in the appropriate direction on the j-th ferrying, j 1,..., m ; m – number of ferrying on the surveyed
network of the city's motorways; a1 – a sign of the existence of the condition of equilibrium of the calculated speed
in the direction of CH  CK ; a2 – a sign of the existence of the condition of equilibrium of the calculated speed in
the direction of CK  CH ; a3 – a sign of the presence of the speed equilibrium condition on adjacent ferrying.
The dimension of the optimization problem (Z) depends on the number of crossroads on the motorway network
with a traffic light cycle less than the maximum (n), which is selected to be the same for all crossroads on the
motorway network::
Z 2n  kmax , 18)
kmax – the number of crossroads with a calculated cycle time, is equal to the maximum.
When formalizing the optimization problem and defining the target function, the coordination parameter – traffic
light cycle balance (12) was applied. Afterwards, the following values were added to the traffic control parameters
on the motorway contour: Ok – offsetting the timing of the activation of the traffic light on the k-th crossroad;
Bk – cycle balance on the k-th crossroad.

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 The chosen method of optimization requires normalization of the optimization parameters in the interval > 0; 1@ .
The optimum parameters for the phase offset ( Ok ) of traffic light control at intersections and the balance of traffic
light control cycles were determined based on the following ratios:
Ok H 0, x ˜ Tmax , 19)
Bk H 0, x 1 , 20)
H 0, ɯ – the elements of the hyperspace point matrix in the current modelling phase.
To solve the optimization problem, Nelder-Meade method is chosen, which refers to search methods of
optimization. The special feature of the Nelder-Meade method consists in using arbitrary (automobile) simplex,
which is obtained by expanding or compressing the simplex depending on the estimation of the previous step of
searching for the minimum of the function under study [8]. In general, the chosen direct search method refers to
simplex methods of optimization. The simplex search algorithm is as follows: at the tops of the simplex a function
value is calculated, minimized, then the top with the highest function value is replaced by a new vertex according to
a certain rule, thus forming a new simplex. The procedure is repeated till the specified number of iterations is
completed or till the conditions of achieving the required minimum of the function are fulfilled. As a result of
completing the software product, the speed of traffic flow along the ferrying and the parameters of traffic light
control at crossroads were obtained.
The effectiveness of contour control has been assessed using specific performance indicators: time delays,
emissions and fuel consumption. The choice of performance indicators is determined by the purpose of traffic
management, in particular, to ensure uniform traffic flow on highways and to improve the environmental safety of
the city.
To make it possible for the model experiment to determine the parameters for traffic management [7] on the
Kharkiv motorway contour, a Geo-information model of the Kharkiv motorway contour was built into the software
package, taking into account the available technical means of regulation: priority road signs, one-way traffic and
traffic light devices.
The contour to be studied consists of the following streets: Sumska street (5, 1, 2, 26), Ya. Mudrogo street (26, 4,
22, 17), Alchevskikh street (27, 21, 22), Chernyshevska street (7, 4), Svobody street (27, 7, 6, 5), Pushkinska street
(17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12), with the adjoining secondary traffic directions shown on the fig. 2.

FIGURE 2. Street road network contour graph Kharkiv.

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 The network features a large number of one-way streets, intersections without traffic lights, heavy traffic on
Pushkinska, Ya. Mudrogo and Sumska Streets, where the right lane is always occupied by parked vehicles, and on
Svobody and Ya. Mudrogo Streets it is difficult to separate oncoming vehicles.
In the process of computer simulation to implement the proposed loop control algorithm, experiments were
conducted to select the duration of the command traffic light cycles of 40s, 50s and 60s. The 40s and 50s options
provided only a partially correct solution, with some vehicles failing to pass the enabling signal, being 1-2s late,
Ɍc = 60 ɫZDVFKRVHQ
The results of the calculation of the parameters of the contour control in Sumska Str. table 1 shows the results of
calculations of the contour control parameters for Sumska street to ensure equal traffic flow. The results of
calculations of control parameters for other mains of the Kharkiv contour were obtained similarly.

TABLE 1. The results of the design of the contour control parameters on Sumska Street (northbound direction).

ʋCrossroad 5 1 2 26
Distance from the previous one 0 218 196 169
Distance from the first one 0 246 470 667
Offset accordingly of the network 35 28 0 1
Reduced offset 35 28 60 61
Offset relative to the first 0 -7 25 26
Duration of the enable signal 32 39 34 43
End of the enable signal 32 32 59 69
An hour of 50 km/hour, seconds 0 17,7 33,8 48,0
The width of the skip smog, seconds 14,3 25,2 21,0

Figure 3 shows positions of the time strip for the coordination of two-way traffic flows along Ya. Mudrogo
street. Similarly obtained diagrams for other highways of the contour: Svobody street., Pushkinskaya street,
Sumskaya street, Alchevskikh street and Chernyshevskaya street.

FIGURE 3. Diagram of the coordination of control parameters of traffic flows on the Ya. Mudrogo street.

A comparative analysis of the above performance indicators for local and contour traffic control was carried out
by means of simulation modelling. These modelling systems (simulation software products in the field of traffic
management, such as (PTV AG, Germany) [9], GETRAM/AIMSUN [10] and Paramics [11]) is a function of the
real-time display of traffic reactions to the effects of traffic light control, is a consequence of the selected control
action in contour management on the street road network. Therefore, the determination of the efficiency of the

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organization of uniform traffic on the contour of the highways of Kharkiv was conducted in the software
environment PTV VISSIM (fig.4).

FIGURE 4. The model of traffic flow along the contour of the traffic flows in PTV VISSIM.

The results of comparative analysis of simulation data under local and contour control show a 13% reduction in
time delays of vehicle movement, a 15% reduction in air pollutant emissions, and a 15% reduction in fuel
consumption (table. 2).

TABLE 2. Comparative analysis of countour performance indicators.

Time Delays of Emission ɋɈ, Emission Emissions of Volatile Fuel Costs,
Transport Funds, grams NOx, grams Organic Compounds, grams litre
seconds
In local control 1050,94 859,266 167,184 199,143 46,527
In contour control 914,69 731,708 142,363 169,581 39,629

It has thus been proven that the introduction of contour traffic management measures to organize uniform traffic
flows on city highways not only reduces time delays but also increases the environmental safety of the city.

CONCLUSION
As a result of the research, the process of contour control of transport flows was formalized on the basis of
defined analitical dependencies of control parameters and optimization of equilibrium traffic parameters. The results
of the simulation modeling prove that ensuring the coordination of traffic flows by the principle of speed
equalization on the elements of the contour of motorways leads to an increase in the efficiency of functioning of the
transport system of the city. The comparative analysis of efficiency indicators of contour control and local control
on the contour intersections has proven that the organization of equal traffic flow on the contour of highways not
only reduces time delays, but also increases the environmental safety of the city.

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