European Journal of Applied Mathematics

Table of Contents - August 2012 - Volume 23, Issue 04  

Papers

Optimal distribution of traffic flows in emergency cases

R. MANZOa1, B. PICCOLIa2 and L. RARITÀa1

a1 Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettronica e Ingegneria Informatica, University of Salerno, Fisciano (SA), Italy email: rmanzo@unisa.it, lrarita@unisa.it

a2 Department of Mathematical Sciences, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, USA email: piccoli@camden.rutgers.edu

Abstract

The aim of this work is to present a technique for the optimisation of emergency vehicles travel times on assigned paths when critical situations, such as car accidents, occur. Using a fluid-dynamic model for the description of car density evolution, the attention is focused on a decentralised approach reducing to simple junctions with two incoming roads and two outgoing ones (junctions of 2 × 2 type). We assume the redirection of cars at junctions is possible and choose a cost functional that describes the asymptotic average velocity of emergency vehicles. Fixing an incoming road and an outgoing road for the emergency vehicle, we determine the local distribution coefficients that maximise such functional at a single junction. Then we use the local optimal coefficients at each node of the network. The overall traffic evolution is studied via simulations, both for simple junctions or cascade networks, evaluating global performances when optimal parameters on the network are used.

(Received January 15 2010)

(Revised March 06 2012)

(Accepted March 06 2012)

(Online publication April 12 2012)

Key words:

  • Conservation laws;
  • traffic problems;
  • optimal redistribution of flows