Abstract
The sensor location problem is of particular importance when planning the allocation of limited field equipment intended to be used for advanced traffic management systems and traveller information services. The locations within a network that satisfy specific goals need to be carefully selected, based on predefined goals related to the effective collection of data and the subsequent estimation of traffic related information. The detection of traffic volumes is mainly associated with two purposes, the travel time and the Origin–Destination (O–D) trip matrix estimation. In this context, this paper presents a quadratic programing model, able to determine the optimal location of tracking sensors. The model is implemented in the urban road network of the city of Thessaloniki (Greece) in which specific number of sensors is installed and utilized for real-time travel time information provision. The proposed methodology models the sensor location problem under the general framework of a set covering problem, which is one of the most popular optimization problems and has been applied in many industrial problems. The results of the case study in Thessaloniki reveal that the proposed model defines the optimal location of the limited number of sensors in such a way that the network, which is created having all sensors as origin or destination of all possible paths, represents to great extent (87% of the traffic flow along the major paths) the traffic volumes of the whole road network of the city.
Highlights
The capabilities for the provision of real-time mobility information and services have significantly increased during the last years, especially due to both new available technologies and high penetration level of smart devices, which have become an indispensable component of the daily traveling.An emerging technique for the provision of real time travel time as well as for monitoring drivers’ behaviour and traffic patterns is the use of point-to-point sensors for tracking individual travellers within a road network
The candidate BT sensor locations are at the intersections of the major paths, since by locating the sensors at intersections the total number of detected vehicles is larger in comparison to locating the sensors between intersections, considering that the detections will include the vehicles coming from and heading to all the legs of the intersection
In order to analyse the characteristics of the selected intersections and in order to define comparison mechanisms, the most significant paths are defined, based on the traffic flow volume
Summary
An emerging technique for the provision of real time travel time as well as for monitoring drivers’ behaviour and traffic patterns is the use of point-to-point sensors for tracking individual travellers within a road network. One technology capable of tracking anonymously users at various locations within a road network is that of Bluetooth (BT) sensors. BT sensors cannot be classified in the conventional ones, since their detections include vehicles. It has been proved by various studies (Haghani et al 2010; Quayle et al 2010) that they can be utilized in order to produce travel time of vehicles moving on specific paths
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