Implementation of an Optimized Virtual Traffic Light Algorithm in SUMO

Abstract

In the future, when all the vehicles will be smart vehicles (SVs) and the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) become mature, the virtual traffic lights system will be more cost-effective than physical traffic lights system. The Virtual Traffic Light (VTL) is a self-organizing traffic control system without requiring road infrastructures. However, the major weakness of the existing VTL algorithm allows only one vehicle crossing the intersection at a time and considers only the straight forward direction of vehicles. This paper implements an optimized VTL algorithm (O-VTL) for road intersections on the Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) that allows more vehicles to cross the intersection without collision and considers various directions of vehicles. For performance evaluation, the travel time, CO2 emission, and fuel consumption of vehicles applying O-VTL are compared to that of the existing VTL algorithm and physical traffic light system in SUMO. According to the comparison result, the average travel time and fuel consumption of vehicles applying the O-VTL algorithm significantly decrease when compared to the existing VTL algorithm and physical traffic lights.