Projects
Adaptive Traffic Signal Control
As part of the Traffic21 initiative at CMU, we are investigating the design and application of adaptive traffic signal control strategies for urban road networks. Our research has three broad themes: (1) development of signalization strategies that allow real-time response to shifts in traffic conditions (accidents, traffic dispersal at completion of major events), (2) low-cost deployment of advanced signalization concepts (implying strategies that work well with limiting sensing and methodologies for incremental insertion of adaptive signal technology), and (3) principled coordination of transit systems and personal vehicles through adaptive traffic signal control. We have developed an adaptive traffic signal control system call Scalable Urban Traffic Control (SURTRAC) and deployed the SURTRAC system on nine intersections in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Real-Time Scheduling of ACCESS Paratransit Transportation
The goal of this project is to increase the effectiveness of paratransit service providers in managing daily operations through the development and deployment of dynamic, real-time scheduling technology. We focus specifically on the daily operations problem faced by the service providers of ACCESS Transportation Systems, the largest paratransit organization in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Region. The core dynamic paratransit scheduling capabilities provide for maintaining situational awareness of the states of current and future trips, for detecting when trips are in jeopardy, and for generating options for rerouting trips in order to improve service. This technology provides a basis for significantly improving customer quality of service, while simultaneously decreasing provider costs and providing the opportunity to offer expanded same-day request service.