An IoT solution for traffic light control

Abstract

Traffic congestion is the plague of our time. The relentless increase in the number of vehicles on the road in a small country such as Malta inevitably results in clogged roads; particularly in urban areas. Developments in sensor technology, advanced hardware and the advent of the Internet led to the Internet of Things (IoT) and consequently the possibility of IoT-based intelligent transportation systems. The aim of this project is to implement a real-time IoT solution which adjusts the traffic light timings controlling an urban signalised junction. This solution aims to minimise the queue length in the junction. In this project, the Rue D’Argens and Sliema road junction is considered. However, the methodologies used in this project can be applied to any signalised junction. The aim of the project is achieved by first developing a micro model of the junction in question on the chosen traffic simulator package. A macro model is also developed and validated by comparing its behaviour with that of the micro model. To transfer the sensor data from the simulator to the cloud, a communications link is established between the traffic simulator and the cloud platform. Finally, after analysing the available optimisation algorithms, the chosen algorithm is implemented on the cloud platform and optimal traffic light timings are obtained. With everything in place, realtime simulations of commonplace traffic scenarios can take place within the complete system. Results will show that with the system developed, the real-time optimisation algorithm is able to find optimal traffic light timings leading to significant reductions in the total queue length at the junction.