Reducing environmental impact by adaptive traffic control and management for urban road networks

This paper investigates the effectiveness of traffic signal control and variable message sign (VMS) as environmental traffic management tool. The focus is on black carbon and CO2, which are among the highest contributors to climate change. The modelling tool chain adopted to support this study includes traffic microsimulation, emission modelling and dispersion modelling. A number of scenarios have been simulated with different levels of demand and VMS compliance rates. The results demonstrate the potential of these interventions in reducing black carbon and CO2 emissions and improving air quality, as well as reducing traffic congestion and travel delays.