The application of SCOOT in developing countries

The SCOOT system of reducing delay to traffic in an urban traffic signal controlled network was developed by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory and British industry to maximise the capacity of existing roads in congested town centres. As a result SCOOT is very robust in accommodating great changes in the timing of traffic demand or flow pattern. It also enables traffic growth to be accommodated without any further action by the traffic engineer. This would seem to make SCOOT ideal for use in developing countries where traffic growth is at a high rate and skilled engineers are in great demand. The paper describes the application of an urban traffic control system with SCOOT in Beijing, the capital of the Peoples Republic of China