Smart Traffic Signals: Comparing MARL and Fixed-Time Strategies

Fuente: arXiv
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Autore principale: Mahato, Saahil
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Mahato, Saahil
author_facet Mahato, Saahil
contents Urban traffic congestion, particularly at intersections, significantly affects travel time, fuel consumption, and emissions. Traditional fixed-time signal control systems often lack the adaptability to effectively manage dynamic traffic patterns. This study explores the application of multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) to optimize traffic signal coordination across multiple intersections within a simulated environment. A simulation was developed to model a network of interconnected intersections with randomly generated vehicle flows to reflect realistic traffic variability. A decentralized MARL controller was implemented in which each traffic signal operates as an autonomous agent, making decisions based on local observations and information from neighboring agents. Performance was evaluated against a baseline fixed-time controller using metrics such as average vehicle wait time and overall throughput. The MARL approach demonstrated statistically significant improvements, including reduced average waiting times and improved throughput. These findings suggest that MARL-based dynamic control strategies hold substantial promise to improve urban traffic management efficiency. More research is recommended to address the challenges of scalability and real-world implementation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_14544
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Smart Traffic Signals: Comparing MARL and Fixed-Time Strategies
Mahato, Saahil
Artificial Intelligence
Multiagent Systems
Urban traffic congestion, particularly at intersections, significantly affects travel time, fuel consumption, and emissions. Traditional fixed-time signal control systems often lack the adaptability to effectively manage dynamic traffic patterns. This study explores the application of multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) to optimize traffic signal coordination across multiple intersections within a simulated environment. A simulation was developed to model a network of interconnected intersections with randomly generated vehicle flows to reflect realistic traffic variability. A decentralized MARL controller was implemented in which each traffic signal operates as an autonomous agent, making decisions based on local observations and information from neighboring agents. Performance was evaluated against a baseline fixed-time controller using metrics such as average vehicle wait time and overall throughput. The MARL approach demonstrated statistically significant improvements, including reduced average waiting times and improved throughput. These findings suggest that MARL-based dynamic control strategies hold substantial promise to improve urban traffic management efficiency. More research is recommended to address the challenges of scalability and real-world implementation.
title Smart Traffic Signals: Comparing MARL and Fixed-Time Strategies
topic Artificial Intelligence
Multiagent Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.14544