New traffic research center may help lessen street congestion

Drivers on the congested streets of Tucson may soon find themselves traveling faster after results from a traffic research center start rolling in.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee approved $1 million in funding for the National Center for Advanced Traffic and Logistics Management to be housed at the University of Arizona.

"As Tucson continues to experience rapid growth, it is important that the area is able to meet the transportation needs of its residents," Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., said.

The center, which could receive $1 million from the federal government for the next five years, will utilize Tucson streets to gather research data geared toward improving city traffic patterns.

The goal of the center is to improve the flow of surface street traffic. The benefits of increased traffic efficiency include economic development due to reduced travel times, which also will reduce air pollution and gasoline consumption.

The center will be run primarily through the UA's Systems and Industrial Engineering Department.

The center will utilize a system the department has used for the last 5 1/2 years, called RHODES (Real-time Hierarchical Optimized Distributed Effective System). RHODES is a system, based on algorithms, which allows for a more efficient timing of traffic lights, said SIE Professor Larry Head.

Head said current traffic control systems are not responsive to the variation and flow of traffic, while RHODES is.

But, he said, it has not been tested on the streets yet.

With the help of RHODES, the center plans to alleviate traffic congestion in cities by 10 percent to 20 percent.

It will also work with the Arizona Department of Transportation and city and county governments.