Prof Benjamin Heydecker
Emeritus Professor
Dept of Civil, Environ &Geomatic Eng
Faculty of Engineering Science
- Joined UCL
- 1st Oct 2020
Research summary
Recent Research
Dynamic Analysis of Road Traffic Flow. Understanding of flow breakdown and other dynamic traffic phenomena on busy motorways, and to establish ways in which this can be modelled so that active traffic management measures can be developed.
Distributed Adaptive Control for Traffic Signal Systems. Development of a novel approach to on-line signal control of road traffic using learning classifier systems.
SIGSIGN research. Development of research software for design of signal-controlled road junctions.
Analysis of trajectories of stacking aircraft for enhanced short term conflict alert.
Analysis of crash and casualty record at road safety cameras operating under cost recovery.
Development of a harmonised research programme for information and communications technology (ICT) in cooperative traffic management.
Energy efficient control of railway train sequence and speeds
Microscopi modelling of road vehicle emissions using data-driven regression
Analysis of control in cooperative autonomous vehicle fleets
Teaching summary
Current Teaching:
ENGF0003: Mathematical modelling and analysis I
MATH0081: Theory of Traffic Flow
T2: Quantitative methods
T8: Road traffic theory and its applications
T11: Quantitative techniques for transport engineering and planning
T14: Advanced transport modelling
Chair of the Intercollegiate MSc in Transport (joint with Imperial College London)
PhD supervision
Education
- Doctorate, Chartered Scientist | 2005
- University College London
- Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy | 1983
- University of Cambridge
- First Degree, Bachelor of Arts | 1978
Biography
Benjamin Heydecker’s research lies in developing mathematical and statistical analyses in transport studies. He has pursued this along three broad themes within the field of transport studies:
o Transport safety, including the analysis and interpretation of road accident data,
o Traffic management and control, including real-time information, management and control systems with a view to promoting cooperative usage of road and railway networks to benefit users and citizens, and
o Transport planning methods, including dynamic transport modelling and discrete choice methods.
The interrelationships between these themes, and between each of them and methodologies for estimation, design and management, are of special interest to him. He is currently exploring opportunities presented by emerging information and communications technology to promote cooperation among users, between users and they transport system, and among components of the transport system.
He serves on the editorial boards of the Networks and Spatial Economics, Sustainable Transportation and Transportmetrica journals. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Mathematics and its Applications, Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, Fellow of the Transport Research Foundation and Member of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation.