AVARS -- Alleviating Unexpected Urban Road Traffic Congestion using UAVs

TL;DR

This paper introduces AVARS, a UAV-based system using deep reinforcement learning to dynamically control traffic signals and reduce unexpected urban traffic congestion efficiently, validated through simulations in Dublin.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel UAV-enabled traffic management system leveraging DRL for real-time congestion mitigation, addressing cost and infrastructure challenges of camera-based systems.

Findings

AVARS effectively reduces congestion within UAV battery limits.

Simulation shows AVARS restores traffic flow to normal levels.

UAV deployment offers a cost-effective alternative to infrastructure upgrades.

Abstract

Reducing unexpected urban traffic congestion caused by en-route events (e.g., road closures, car crashes, etc.) often requires fast and accurate reactions to choose the best-fit traffic signals. Traditional traffic light control systems, such as SCATS and SCOOT, are not efficient as their traffic data provided by induction loops has a low update frequency (i.e., longer than 1 minute). Moreover, the traffic light signal plans used by these systems are selected from a limited set of candidate plans pre-programmed prior to unexpected events' occurrence. Recent research demonstrates that camera-based traffic light systems controlled by deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithms are more effective in reducing traffic congestion, in which the cameras can provide high-frequency high-resolution traffic data. However, these systems are costly to deploy in big cities due to the excessive potential upgrades required to road infrastructure. In this paper, we argue that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can play a crucial role in dealing with unexpected traffic congestion because UAVs with onboard cameras can be economically deployed when and where unexpected congestion occurs. Then, we propose a system called "AVARS" that explores the potential of using UAVs to reduce unexpected urban traffic congestion using DRL-based traffic light signal control. This approach is validated on a widely used open-source traffic simulator with practical UAV settings, including its traffic monitoring ranges and battery lifetime. Our simulation results show that AVARS can effectively recover the unexpected traffic congestion in Dublin, Ireland, back to its original un-congested level within the typical battery life duration of a UAV.