A logic programming based approach for on-line traffic control

In this paper we describe an effective approach to design, implement, and operate a traffic control system based on logic programming. With this approach it is possible to implement very flexible control strategies that can be easily developed by traffic engineers using a simple description language. An important feature of the system is the use of a very efficient logic programming solver, the Leibniz System, which is capable of generating fast solution algorithms for the decision problems associated with traffic signal setting. A micro-simulator has been developed to verify the effectiveness of the method. It is a crucial tool of an integrated development system, that allows one to develop control strategies and to test them before their on-field implementation. An application to a real case is described and experimental results are presented.