Intelligent Transportation Systems: A Review of Integration of Digital Twin and Machine Learning Control

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the integration of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Digital Twin (DT) technologies for intelligent traffic management. It examines the role of key enabling technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), reinforcement learning (RL), Graph Neural Networks (GNNs), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, and edge computing. These technologies support real-time traffic monitoring, traffic prediction, and adaptive control in ITS. The review synthesizes recent research on conventional traffic control methods, optimization-based approaches, learning-based techniques, and DT-enabled traffic management solutions. Particular attention is given to the integration of DTs with intelligent traffic signal control, real-time synchronization, multi-intersection coordination, communication latency, sensing uncertainty, and scalability. The reviewed literature demonstrates the potential of DT-enabled ITS to improve traffic efficiency, reduce congestion, enhance transportation safety, and support sustainable mobility through data-driven decision-making. However, significant challenges remain regarding communication delays, sensor and data uncertainty, computational complexity, scalability, and validation under realistic urban conditions. Based on the reviewed literature, this paper identifies key research gaps and outlines future research directions toward scalable, reliable, adaptive, and real-time DT-enabled ITS architectures for next-generation smart cities.