21st International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO) / 18-20 November 2024
Expanded Applicability: Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning-Based Traffic Signal Control in a Variable-Sized Environment
During the development of modern cities, there is a strong demand articulated for the sustainability of progress. Since transportation is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, the modernization and efficiency of transportation are key issues in the development of livable cities. Increasing the number of lanes does not always provide a solution and often is not feasible for various reasons. In such cases, Intelligent Transportation Systems are applied primarily in urban environments, mostly in the form of Traffic Signal Control. The majority of modern cities already employ adaptive traffic signals, but these largely utilize rule-based algorithms. Due to the stochastic nature of traffic, there arises a demand for cognitive decision-making that enables event-driven characteristics with the assistance of machine learning algorithms. While there are existing solutions utilizing Reinforcement Learning to address the problem, further advancements can be achieved in various areas. This paper presents a solution that not only reduces emissions and enhances network throughput but also ensures universal applicability regardless of network size, owing to individually tailored state representation and rewards.