Multi-Regional Traffic Control with Travel and Charging Demand Co-Management

With electric vehicles (EVs) surging, urban traffic systems face a double challenge: congestion and charging infrastructure strain. A new paper on arXiv (arXiv:2605.00726) from authors Yixun Wen, Stelios Timotheou, and Boli Chen proposes a multi-regional coordination framework that tackles both simultaneously. The system integrates route guidance with charging demand management, using the macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) to model regional traffic dynamics at a system level. By jointly optimizing each vehicle's path and the timing/location of its charging stops, the framework aims to balance load across both the road network and the grid.

The approach also features demand management — regulating external inflows into the network to prevent overload. In a case study on a 16-region urban network, the framework outperformed baseline methods, reducing average travel times and charging delays. This work is a step toward practical AI-assisted urban mobility management that handles the growing EV ecosystem without requiring expensive infrastructure upgrades. The framework could be adapted for real-time traffic control centers, offering a scalable solution for smart cities facing the EV transition.