PTV manages Strasbourg’s traffic flow to improve air quality

PTV Group's signal control system has helped Strasbourg’s Eurométropole reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 8% and particulate matter by 9% in a project which set out to slash emissions by decreasing stop-and-go traffic along one of the city’s main arterial roads. The simulation also cut vehicle stops by 9%. Called PTV Epics, the software tool controlled the waiting times for all road users at the traffic lights, reducing 85% of all cases to 45 seconds, which would otherwise only apply to 35% of road
February 21, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
3264 PTV Group's signal control system has helped Strasbourg’s Eurométropole reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 8% and particulate matter by 9% in a project which set out to slash emissions by decreasing stop-and-go traffic along one of the city’s main arterial roads. The simulation also cut vehicle stops by 9%.


Called PTV Epics, the software tool controlled the waiting times for all road users at the traffic lights, reducing 85% of all cases to 45 seconds, which would otherwise only apply to 35% of road users.

Frédéric Reutenauer, project officer and vice president project management & services at PTV Group, said: “PTV software helps optimize signal control programs in order to minimize waiting times at traffic lights and thus reduce the number of stop-and-go waves. We used the traffic simulation software PTV Vissim to visualize the effect on traffic by analysing the traffic flow at six signalized intersections of Avenue de Colmar located south of Strasbourg.”

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Pollution has more than one solution
    April 7, 2014
    Professor Alexander Baklanov of the World Meteorological Organization talks to Colin Sowman about the difficulties of reducing urban pollution. The inhabitants of Beijing have recently been suffering pollution levels 20 times the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit while the European Union is revitalising its efforts to implement and enforce air quality standards. Almost inevitably much of the clean-up efforts are likely to focus on traffic planners and engineers.
    Read More
  • Siemens Mobility project uses rerouting to improve air quality in Munich
    February 25, 2019
    Up to 40% of drivers are willing to help reduce air pollution when provided with alternative routes on ThinxNet’s Ryd platform, says Siemens Mobility. The partners worked with air quality specialist Hawa Dawa in a four-week project in Munich to prove that intelligent traffic control can help cities become more sustainable. Siemens says initial results for more than 1,600 drivers in the German city showed savings of 83 kg of carbon dioxide and 114 g of nitrogen oxide as well as a reduction of 633km driven
    Read More
  • The importance of going with the flow
    April 6, 2018
    Ensuring worker safety and up-to-date driver information is crucial to ensure that roadworks are not a source of danger and delay. Andrew Williams looks at a scheme on the A14 in Cambridgeshire, UK. In recent years, portable workzone ITS solutions have emerged as important tools in the management of major roadworks and system upgrade projects - and are viewed as an increasingly vital means of ensuring any ongoing traffic flow disruption is kept to a minimum. The technology forms a central component of an
    Read More
  • VISSIM benefits from German SKRIBT research project
    April 16, 2012
    SKRIBT, a research project which is part of the ‘Research for Civil Security’ programme funded by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education, has focused on protecting critical bridges and tunnels. PTV, which was one of the research project's 10 consortium partners, says the knowledge and expertise gained from this project have been used for the company’s traffic simulation tool VISSIM. SKRIBT (Schutz kritischer Brücken und Tunnel im Zuge von Straßen) analysed threat scenarios, such as storm, flooding, expl
    Read More

Highlighted Content