Skip to main content

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.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Europe’s road safety record suffers as austerity bites hard, say traffic police chiefs
    March 7, 2018
    Europe’s leading traffic police chiefs are struggling with the challenge of how best to manage the region’s road network in an era of austerity. Things are changing fast, and not for the better, reports Geoff Hadwick. Europe’s road safety record is under threat. Police budgets are being slashed, staff numbers are falling and a long-term trend towards ever-fewer road deaths has ground to a halt. The line on the graph has flat-lined. Does Europe’s road network face a far more dangerous future? Lower and
  • USDoT pilots show win-win potential for connected vehicles
    December 19, 2017
    Pete Goldin discovers the state of play with connected vehicles trials in the US and the impact of Hurricane Irma on Tampa’s pilot. The US Department of Transportation’s (USDoT’s) connected vehicle (CV) pilot sites have moved into phase 2 of the deployment programme– design, build, test and, maybe most importantly, collaborate.
  • Fara keeps data delivery simple
    January 25, 2018
    Simplifying the delivery of data and information gathered by traffic management, ticketing and other systems can improve travel efficiency and the traveller’s experience. Having quantified and analysed the previously unmonitored movement of road vehicles, trains, metros, cyclists and pedestrians, the ITS sector is a prime example of the digital world. Patterns discerned from those previously random happenings enable authorities to design more efficient transport systems, allow transport operators to run
  • PTV partners with 3D VR specialist Forum8 
    June 11, 2020
    Idea is to create more realistic pictures of traffic networks for urban planning