Fundamentals of traffic operations and control

Summary

The objectives of this course are to present the major elements of traffic operations and to develop basic skills in applying the fundamentals of traffic analysis and control. Students should be able to start applying these skills to model different aspects of congestion in urban systems.

Content

Keywords

traffic engineering, traffic flow theory, traffic management, ramp metering, public transportation

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

Transportation Systems Engineering (CIVIL-355) or Consent of the Instructor

Important concepts to start the course

A good level of knowledge in mathematics and programming as taught in the first 2 years of the Civil Engineering program.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Assess / Evaluate the performance of transport systems
• Optimize the level of mobility in a city
• Analyze the different types of congestion
• Apply control strategies in congested networks
• Illustrate with simple examples the complexity of transport systems
• Establish methodologies to model congestion

Transversal skills

• Evaluate one's own performance in the team, receive and respond appropriately to feedback.
• Resolve conflicts in ways that are productive for the task and the people concerned.
• Respect relevant legal guidelines and ethical codes for the profession.
• Plan and carry out activities in a way which makes optimal use of available time and other resources.
• Continue to work through difficulties or initial failure to find optimal solutions.
• Access and evaluate appropriate sources of information.
• Collect data.

Teaching methods

Lectures with slides and/or board description, exercises, group projects, seminars by invited professor

Expected student activities

Attend lectures and exercise sessions, actively solve the lab in group, and critically analyze the results

Assessment methods

Mid-term exam, final exam, homeworks, laboratories (in groups)

Supervision

Resources

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

No

Bibliography

Material is provided in moodle that consists of scientific papers and class notes

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/CIVIL-457

Prerequisite for

Courses and projects in transportation