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Problem Title: Designing a Traffic Circle

     
  Year: 2009      
  Student Level: Undergraduate      
  Source: MCM      
  Commentary: Yes (1)      
  Student Papers: Yes (4)      
     
  Problem  
 

Many cities and communities have traffic circles-from large ones with many lanes in the circle (such as at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Victory Monument in Bangkok) to small ones with one or two lanes in the circle. Some of these traffic circles position a stop sign or a yield sign on every incoming road that gives priority to traffic already in the circle; some position a yield sign in the circle at each incoming road to give priority to incoming traffic; and some position a traffic light on each incoming road (with no right turn allowed on a red light). Other designs may also be possible.

The goal of this problem is to use a model to determine how best to control traffic flow in, around, and out of a circle. State clearly the objective(s) you use in your model for making the optimal choice as well as the factors that affect this choice. Include a Technical Summary of not more than two double-spaced pages that explains to a Traffic Engineer how to use your model to help choose the appropriate flow-control method for any specific traffic circle. That is, summarize the conditions under which each type of traffic-control method should be used. When traffic lights are recommended, explain a method for determining how many seconds each light should remain green (which may vary according to the time of day and other factors). Illustrate how your model works with specific examples.

 
         
  Commentary      
 

Judge's Commentary: The Outstanding Traffic Circle Papers

Kelly Black
Dept. of Mathematics
Clarkson University

     
         
  Student Papers      
 

Team 4339: Three Steps to Make the Traffic Circle Go Round.

Tsinghua University, China

 
         
 

Team 4806: PSUEDO-FINITE JACKSON NETWORKS AND SIMULATION: A ROUNDABOUT APPROACH TO TRAFFIC CONTROL

University of Colorado - Boulder, CO

 
         
 

Team 5180: One Ring to Rule Them All: The Optimization of Traffic Circles

Harvey Mudd College, CA

 
         
 

Team 5702: A Simulation-Based Assessment of Traffic Circle Control

Harvard University, MA