Models for traffic control

Traffic models play an important role in both today’s traffic research and in many traffic applications such as traffic flow prediction, incident detection and traffic control. In this paper we concentrate on motorway traffic models for traffic control. First, we discuss why traffic control is important for both practice and research. We also argue why a model-based approach to traffic control is used and how it is implemented in traffic applications. Every traffic application requires specific features of the traffic model. After classifying the models based on these features, we look in detail at three macroscopic models since these models are best suited for implementation in traffic control systems. We conclude with an illustrative example that illustrates a model-based predictive control approach for ramp metering.