Traffic simulation: Use of round about as a traffic flow organizer element in intersections of the Palmas City, Tocantins

This paper presents results of intersection traffic simulation in the central area of the city of Palmas-TO, which shows great movement during peak time. The objective is to compare the efficiency of the use of the roundabout with other types of intersection, at times with greater and lesser traffic flow. Palmas, capital of Tocantins, is a planned city with wide avenues and intersections of arterial roads with roundabouts, initially planned to discipline traffic and reduce accidents. Although the roundabouts are a great tool for disciplining traffic, many residents complain about their inefficiency at busy times due to traffic bottlenecks at intersections. In view of these reports, an intersection was chosen in the central area of Palmas with problems related to the large flow of vehicles at a time with greater flow for the accomplishment of a set of traffic simulations through computational analysis. To develop the simulations, the graph theory concepts for data modeling and queuing theory were used to understand the behavior and creation of vehicle queues to simulate the problem context. The genetic algorithms concepts were applied under the models to obtain the best solution of the analyzes, based on the behavior observed in the traffic monitoring. The results of the computational simulation presented analytical conclusions about the intersection point of roads with the adoption of roundabouts, presenting itself as a support element for the definition of urban traffic guidelines and policies.