Adaptive urban traffic signal control system that prioritizes bus

With the economic development and urbanization, traffic congestion has become a serious problem in urban areas. Traffic signal control plays a key role in Intelligent Transportation System. Particularly, bus system possesses higher passenger capacity, which helps to relieve traffic jam in cities. However, different from ordinary vehicles, bus system has several unique features, including higher passenger capacity, fixed routes and specific requirements on arrival time and headway. This paper proposes an adaptive traffic signal control approach that prioritizes bus. It determines the phase sequence and time in non-fixed order based on synergic information to improve the performance of bus system while bringing very little influence on ordinary vehicles. Simulation results show that the proposed approach can significantly reduce the waiting time of buses, keep bus schedules on time, and maintain regular bus headway.