A predictive feedback routing control strategy for freeway network traffic

Available routing strategies for traffic networks may be classified as feedback and iterative strategies. Feedback strategies base their routing decisions on real-time measurable information only, via employment of simple regulators, while iterative strategies run a traffic network model repeatedly to achieve exact user equilibrium conditions over a future time horizon. A new predictive feedback strategy is developed with the aim of incorporating the advantages of both kinds of strategies on one hand and attenuating their disadvantages on the other hand. The new strategy runs a mathematical model only once at each time step and bases its routing decisions on the predicted, rather than the currently prevailing, traffic conditions. Preliminary investigations demonstrate that satisfactory routing results are achieved by use of this strategy.