Momentum Based Reward Design for Low Emission Traffic Signal Control

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Mundane, Chinmay, Manoharan, Amith, Singh, Arun
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866917543378157568
author Mundane, Chinmay
Manoharan, Amith
Singh, Arun
author_facet Mundane, Chinmay
Manoharan, Amith
Singh, Arun
contents Urban traffic congestion is a growing global issue contributing significantly to long commute times and environmental pollution. Traditional traffic signal control systems often fail to adapt to dynamic traffic conditions. Adaptive traffic signal control can improve urban traffic without changing road infrastructure. Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) has shown strong performance for this task, but existing delay and queue-based rewards often produce short-sighted or unstable policies. This paper proposes a Momentum-Based Reward Function (MBRF) that encourages vehicles to keep moving rather than penalizing congestion alone. The method is evaluated in SUMO (Simulation of Urban MObility) using standard traffic metrics such as waiting time, queue length, throughput, and CO2 emissions. Results show that the proposed reward produces better throughput-emission trade-offs and more stable learning behavior than delay or queue-based rewards, as well as classical controllers such as Max Pressure and LQF.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_29693
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Momentum Based Reward Design for Low Emission Traffic Signal Control
Mundane, Chinmay
Manoharan, Amith
Singh, Arun
Machine Learning
Robotics
Urban traffic congestion is a growing global issue contributing significantly to long commute times and environmental pollution. Traditional traffic signal control systems often fail to adapt to dynamic traffic conditions. Adaptive traffic signal control can improve urban traffic without changing road infrastructure. Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) has shown strong performance for this task, but existing delay and queue-based rewards often produce short-sighted or unstable policies. This paper proposes a Momentum-Based Reward Function (MBRF) that encourages vehicles to keep moving rather than penalizing congestion alone. The method is evaluated in SUMO (Simulation of Urban MObility) using standard traffic metrics such as waiting time, queue length, throughput, and CO2 emissions. Results show that the proposed reward produces better throughput-emission trade-offs and more stable learning behavior than delay or queue-based rewards, as well as classical controllers such as Max Pressure and LQF.
title Momentum Based Reward Design for Low Emission Traffic Signal Control
topic Machine Learning
Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.29693