There is a Will, There is a Way: A New Mechanism for Traffic Control Based on VTL and VANET

Traffic light is regarded as one of the most effective ways to alleviate traffic congestion and carbon emission problems. However, traditional traffic light cannot meet the challenges in traffic regulation posed by the fast growing number of vehicles and increasing complexity of road conditions. In this paper, we propose a dynamic traffic regulation method based on virtual traffic light (VTL) for Vehicle Ad Hoc Network (VANET). In our framework, each vehicle can express its 'will' - the desire of moving forward - and share among one another its 'will'-value and related traffic information at a traffic light controlled intersection. Based on the traffic information collected in real time, the virtual traffic light in our scheme can be adaptive to the changing environment. We conducted a number of simulation experiments with different scenarios using network simulator NS3 combined with traffic simulator SUMO. The results demonstrate the viability of our solution in reducing waiting time and improving the traffic efficiency.