TITLE: Real-time Adaptive Traffic Management in Evacuation Operations

SPEAKER: Pitu Mirchandani

ABSTRACT:

Real-time Decision Systems include systems such as real-time traffic signal control systems, real-time transport scheduling systems, real-time freight dispatch systems, real-time inventory control, etc. Given the vast amount of streaming data that is available through sensors for operating such systems, one can make better real-time decisions if such data is used appropriately. "Real-time" necessarily implies that it is some sort of feedback control, where new decisions are implemented based on "feedback" from sensors that measure the "state of the system". As such, the attributes of the algorithms embedded in the feedback influence how well the system responds to scheduled and unscheduled external events.

This talk will first present a framework for the design of a real-time adaptive systems and some current work in traffic adaptive signal control systems require that various traffic data be collected in order to develop a traffic model within which the desired performance optimization can be completed. These data include link travel times, turn proportions and queue discharge rates. A brief discussion of a system developed by the presenter, referred to as RHODES, will be also discussed.

The second part of the talk will discuss the application of the framework for the design of a wide-area adaptive traffic management for evacuations