Mathematically optimizing traffic lights in road intersections


Traffic modeling has been of interest to mathematicians since the 1950s. Research in the area has only grown as road traffic control presents an ever-increasing problem. Generally, models for traffic flow in road networks are time-dependent and continuous, that is, they describe traffic by a continuum rather than as individual drivers or cars. These macroscopic models describe the temporal and spatial evolution of traffic density without predicting traffic patterns of individuals.  In addition to macroscopic models based on continuous densities, microscopic approaches like particle models or cellular automata are also used to model traffic.


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