Integrating Smart Traffic Control Systems with Autonomous Vehicle Corridors: A System-Level Framework for Real-Time Network Coordination in Mixed Urban–Expressway Environments

Abstract

Cities worldwide are retrofitting legacy signal networks while planning dedicated autonomous vehicle (AV) corridors. Yet, most deployments address the two domains separately, creating digital silos that limit network wide efficiency. This paper proposes a System-Level framework that fuses smart traffic control systems (STCS) with AV corridors, treating every signal, roadside unit, and vehicle as a node on a unified edge-to-cloud platform. By enabling continuous data sharing—traffic density, predicted arrival trajectories, and infrastructure health—the framework orchestrates real-time signal timing, lane allocation, and corridor access permissions. Simulation on a 14?km mixed urban–expressway testbed shows a 37?% reduction in average delay and a 22?% drop in fuel-equivalent energy consumption across both conventional and autonomous traffic streams. The results demonstrate that integrating STCS and AV corridors, rather than optimizing them in isolation, yields outsized benefits for congestion mitigation, safety, and environmental impact.