AN ENHANCED WALABI METHOD FOR EMERGENCY VEHICLE PRIORITY SYSTEM

Abstract

Emergency response time (ERT) is a critical emergency provider's performance indicator. Traffic congestion, particularly at traffic light system (TLS) intersections, substantially impacts the ERT of emergency vehicles (EVs). In order to achieve ERT, it is crucial to have an emergency vehicle priority (EVP) system. EVP with Walabi (EVP-Walabi) method has been introduced but the existing approach caused EV to slow down when approaching TLS. This is because the existing EVP-Walabi method is only able to allow a green signal when the EV joins the queue at the TLS intersection. Therefore, this research introduced an enhanced Walabi method (EVP-Enhanced Walabi) to enhance the EV movement through the intersections. The simulation setup in this research used a series of TLS intersections in Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) operating under uncongested and congested traffic flows. According to the simulation results, the EVP-Enhanced Walabi method mitigated the effect of EV slowing in the lowest and most congested traffic, which TLS without EVP and the original Walabi cannot handle. This can be proven when the improvement percentage range for Time Taken (TT) to reach accident site by EVP-Enhanced Walabi is between 7.05% and 35.18%. In addition, the EV travels at a higher average speed through the intersections, indicating smoother movement to the accident site.