A CONNECTED-VEHICLE TRAFFIC SIGNAL SYSTEM MODELING PLATFORM

Abstract

Traffic in the cities of the future will be managed by sophisticated signaling systems working in conjunction with network-connected vehicles that share a wide variety of data. A common configuration for information flow will be from vehicles on the road to roadside units (RSUs) via basic safety messages (BSM). A BSM contains information about position, heading, state of the vehicle, etc. The roadside infrastructure (RSI) may in return convey information about traffic conditions ahead such as the status of signaling. Traffic control algorithms can then plan and improve traffic control by managing signals via protocols such as signal phasing and timing (SPaT) messages. Traffic simulators are critical tools to aid traffic planners in modeling traffic signal operations and traffic flow. VISSIM is a popular example of this class of tools. Unfortunately, VISSIM does not support BSM and SPaT protocols, thus limiting the development of simulations of the more closely connected and managed traffic environments of the future. This software project enables modeling of traffic systems of the future by suppling a well-documented and technically precise implementation of BSM and SPaT programming interfaces for VISSIM.