Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning for Large-Scale Mixed Traffic Control

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Islam, Iftekharul, Li, Weizi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Islam, Iftekharul
Li, Weizi
author_facet Islam, Iftekharul
Li, Weizi
contents Effective mixed traffic control requires balancing efficiency, fairness, and safety. Existing approaches excel at optimizing efficiency and enforcing safety constraints but lack mechanisms to ensure equitable service, resulting in systematic starvation of vehicles on low-demand approaches. We propose a hierarchical framework combining multi-objective reinforcement learning for local intersection control with strategic routing for network-level coordination. Our approach introduces a Conflict Threat Vector that provides agents with explicit risk signals for proactive conflict avoidance, and a queue parity penalty that ensures equitable service across all traffic streams. Extensive experiments on a real-world network across different robot vehicle (RV) penetration rates demonstrate substantial improvements: up to 53% reductions in average wait time, up to 86% reductions in maximum starvation, and up to 86\% reduction in conflict rate compared to baselines, while maintaining fuel efficiency. Our analysis reveals that strategic routing effectiveness scales with RV penetration, becoming increasingly valuable at higher autonomy levels. The results demonstrate that multi-objective optimization through well-curated reward functions paired with strategic RV routing yields significant benefits in fairness and safety metrics critical for equitable mixed-autonomy deployment.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_11247
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning for Large-Scale Mixed Traffic Control
Islam, Iftekharul
Li, Weizi
Multiagent Systems
Machine Learning
Effective mixed traffic control requires balancing efficiency, fairness, and safety. Existing approaches excel at optimizing efficiency and enforcing safety constraints but lack mechanisms to ensure equitable service, resulting in systematic starvation of vehicles on low-demand approaches. We propose a hierarchical framework combining multi-objective reinforcement learning for local intersection control with strategic routing for network-level coordination. Our approach introduces a Conflict Threat Vector that provides agents with explicit risk signals for proactive conflict avoidance, and a queue parity penalty that ensures equitable service across all traffic streams. Extensive experiments on a real-world network across different robot vehicle (RV) penetration rates demonstrate substantial improvements: up to 53% reductions in average wait time, up to 86% reductions in maximum starvation, and up to 86\% reduction in conflict rate compared to baselines, while maintaining fuel efficiency. Our analysis reveals that strategic routing effectiveness scales with RV penetration, becoming increasingly valuable at higher autonomy levels. The results demonstrate that multi-objective optimization through well-curated reward functions paired with strategic RV routing yields significant benefits in fairness and safety metrics critical for equitable mixed-autonomy deployment.
title Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning for Large-Scale Mixed Traffic Control
topic Multiagent Systems
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.11247