Traffic Engineering

Abstract

Traffic engineering is concerned with the design of streets and highways and with the control of traffic on these roads. In an urban area, the routing of traffic needs to be considered when detours are set up so that road repairs can be made. When roadwork is done on a highway, the effect of temporary lane closures on traffic flow needs to be taken into account. That these matters are in fact quite seriously regarded by the people in the Department of Transportation is evidenced by the fact that roadwork is invariably carried out at times and locations that will maximize both inconvenience and time delay (and flagmen are stationed to ensure that no one proceeds unimpeded through a work area). Cellular automata can be used to study both routing and traffic flow on streets and highways.