Energy-sustainable traffic signal timings for a congested road network with heterogeneous users

This paper proposes a novel model to address the energy-efficient traffic signal timing problem for a congested road network with heterogeneous users. In the proposed model, two types of agents, i.e., the authority and road users, are considered together with the interaction between traffic signal settings and energy policy (e.g., fuel surcharges). To model the route choice behavior of heterogeneous users, a multiclass stochastic traffic network equilibrium problem that considers vehicle delays at signalized intersections and travel demand elasticity is described and formulated as a variational inequality formulation. The authority aims to maximize social welfare of the transportation system by optimizing the traffic signal timings and fuel surcharges. A simulated-annealing-based solution algorithm is developed to solve the proposed model. The findings show that the implementation of the fuel surcharge policy can cause spatial and social inequity issues.