Traffic data: less is more

In support of the Governments 10 Year Transport Plan the Highways Agency has an ambitious programme to roll-out traffic systems on the English motorway network. The control methodologies within these systems can be further developed which will help meet the Government's targets to reduce congestion and accidents. This paper describes three innovative projects being undertaken by the Highways Agency. The approach to these projects departs from the traditional engineering approach, instead we have used mathematical techniques to evolve control functions that learn and operate on the available traffic data.