| There is no doubt about the significance of what a smart and efficient traffic signal can do to the society today and beyond. Although the state-of-the-art computer, communication and surveillance technologies becoming available, feasible and affordable, the signal control plans currently being implemented in the field are still generated based on the concepts developed 30 years ago. The problem can be boiled down to the fact that the signal phasing, timing and coordination of the signal control plans implemented are not simultaneously considered, formulated and then optimized based on real-time traffic information.; This dissertation fully exploits the microscopic simulation technologies, revisits the traffic signal control problem for the urban streets that are generally recognized by the research community, and provides a methodology that can offer a better solution.; The solution algorithm is based entirely on the dynamic programming formulation. It is capable of performing network-wide signal optimization by addressing real-word traffic issues and considering signal phasing and timing simultaneously. It has been proven that the solution algorithm developed in this study is more computationally efficient without compromising the global optimality. |
