Speed limits in traffic emission models using multi-objective optimization

arXiv (Cornell University)

Abstract

Climate change compels a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, yet vehicular traffic still contributes significantly to the emission of air pollutants. Hence, in this paper we focus on the optimization of traffic flow while simultaneously minimizing air pollution using speed limits as controllable parameters. We introduce a framework of traffic emission models to simulate the traffic dynamic as well as the production and spread of air pollutants. We formulate a multi-objective optimization problem for the optimization of multiple aspects of vehicular traffic. The results show that multi-objective optimization can be a valuable tool in traffic emission modeling as it allows to find optimal compromises between ecological and economic objectives.

Authors 3

1. Simone Göttlich
2. Michaël Herty Aachen Department of Mathematics

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen University , Department of Mathematics , 52056 Aachen , Germany

3. Alena Ulke

   University of Mannheim

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Mannheim , Department of Mathematics , 68131 Mannheim , Germany