Assessing the performance of coordinated predictive control strategies on urban-motorway networks

Coordination and integration of different traffic control policies have been of considerable interest in research in the last decades and, recently, have been object of large scale implementation trials. In the setting of peri-urban motorway systems, coordination of various kinds of controllers must however be accompanied by accurate prediction of both propagation of flows and queues in the network, as well as the users’ response in terms of route choice. In this paper, we showcase through a real-life case study how coordination and prediction are both essential when performing hybrid urban-motorway control. Simulation results of a Model Predictive Control application are compared to simpler local control approaches, and the impact of coordinated intersection control and, additionally, Ramp Metering is evaluated.