Kotsialos, Apostolos (PPC - Hellas S.A.), Vassilakopoulou, Polyxeni (University of Agder)

Rest Area Utilisation for Truck Traffic Management

Scheduled for presentation during the Video Session "On-Demand Video Presentations" (VP-VP), Saturday, November 22, 2025, 08:00−18:00, On-Demand Platform

2025 IEEE 28th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), November 18-21, 2025, Gold Coast, Australia

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on April 2, 2026

Abstract

This paper is concerned with traffic flow modelling and control strategies for using the motorway Rest Areas’ (RA) infrastructure as Storage Area Facilities (SAF) for traffic management. A multi-class version of METANET is further developed incorporating SAFs comprising of an inlink with fixed travel time, a RA queue with stochastic departure times and a metered outlink discharging into the motorway. This model allows the design of control strategies focusing explicitly on the general vehicle class of trucks. This is done by applying upstream the inlink decentralized route guidance on truck traffic and deploying ramp metering downstream the outlink. An illustrative case study is provided, using a feedback controller for route guidance and ALINEA for ramp metering. The results show improvements of efficiency and environmental metrics. While technically promising, the actual impact depends on integration into institutional arrangements and cyber-physical infrastructures calling for further sociotechnical investigation contributing to more sustainable and resilient traffic systems.