Signal setting optimization on urban road transport networks: The case of emergency evacuation

• Framework to integrate a signal setting design model and a dynamic assignment model.
• User path choice affected by path costs and simulated with random utility models.
• Calibration and validation with data from a real experimental urban evacuation.
• Decision support system to urban transportation planning in emergency evacuations.

Traffic signal setting is an important element in traffic planning of urban road networks in ordinary conditions and/or in emergency conditions. As traffic signal setting affects user behaviour mainly at the path choice dimension, this dependence has to be studied by means of assignment models. We thus present a system of models and procedures for signal setting optimization with assignment of travel demand to a congested road transport network. Two interacting procedures are developed to solve the system of models: (i) an optimization procedure to obtain an optimal configuration of signal setting parameters and (ii) an assignment procedure, incorporating a path choice model with explicit path enumeration and a flow propagation model, to capture the effects of signal setting configuration on user path choice behaviour.The system of models and procedures is applied and validated on a real test site, where the transport system is in dynamic conditions due to the time-varying road network and travel demand. The test site is a portion of a small-size town where the population needs to be evacuated due to an imminent calamitous event. The results show considerable reductions in total delays on the network and evacuation times in the case of optimized signal setting parameters.