City Traffic Control Research Articles

BiLSTM- and GNN-Based Spatiotemporal Traffic Flow Forecasting with Correlated Weather Data

The timely and accurate forecasting of urban road traffic is crucial for smart city traffic management and control. It can assist both drivers and traffic controllers in selecting efficient routes and diverting traffic to less congested roads. However, estimating traffic volume while taking into account external factors such as weather and accidents is still a challenge. In this research, we propose a hybrid deep learning framework, double attention graph neural network BiLSTM (DAGNBL), that utilizes a graph neural network to represent spatial characteristics and bidirectional LSTM units to capture temporal dependencies between features. Attention modules are added to the GNN and BLSTM to find high-impact attention weight values for the chosen road section. Our model offers the best prediction accuracy with a mean absolute percentage error of 5.21% and a root mean squared error of 4. It can be utilized as a useful tool for predicting traffic flow on certain stretches of road.

Challenges in Chennai City Traffic Control: Insights from Commuters’ Road Usage Practices

Purpose: The objectives of the study were to find out all the entities that cause the road traffic in Chennai City and to analyse the various behavioural attitudes of various entities on road traffic in Chennai City. Design/methodology/approach: The study was carried out using questionnaires and interviews. The samples were drawn on a random sampling basis from the entire population of Chennai city. 1242 persons were interviewed. Findings: The study revealed that the respondents observed the civic practices of the pedestrians as they hold phones while crossing the roads or pathways, do not bother to stop at signals, do not cross the roads in the zebra lines; the civic practices of the 2/3-wheelers as the drivers attend to phones while driving, jumping signals, plying their vehicles on the platform, driving without helmets, and switching on the indicator lights; the civic practices of the 4-wheelers as cars using high beams within the city limits, not giving way to ambulances, honking near schools and hospitals, plying with one headlight; the practices of public works department personnel as roads are not laid down properly, roads are laid in patches, the main roads, streets, and infrastructure are not maintained properly; the practices of traffic police as government vehicles are not fined, and fine is collected by hand and bribery. Research limitations/implications: The study suggested pedestrians cross the roads only in zebra crossings but with utmost care or pathways to avoid the habit of talking over the phones, pedestrians to cross the road only at the designated places using zebra crossings; Drivers of vehicles must avoid phones while driving; Avoid jumping signals; not to drive in the opposite direction—enough number of Government buses to be plied to avoid the crowd. Ambulances should be given priority and no honking near schools, hospitals, etc. Traffic police should penalize heavy vehicles with fused/not working headlights. RTOs should include signal tests, eye tests in the driving license eligibility tests in India, and re-issuance of driving licenses should be done to check physical fitness. Traffic rules violators must be severely penalized regardless of whether they are Government or private vehicles. To avoid bribery traffic police should not collect fines in hand but rather through online. Drunken drivers should not be left free and fined. Social Implications: The study suggested how the behaviour of the pedestrians’ carelessness while crossing the roads, the vehicle riders’ irresponsible driving, and the needed responsibility of RTOs/PWDs/traffic police will change the traffic system into a safe traffic environment. Originality / Value: This study is the first kind of its own as it examines the behaviours of pedestrians, 2-wheelers/4-wheelers, Public Works Department Personnel, License Issuing Authority/Regional Transport Office, and Traffic Police whose behaviour affects the Chennai city traffic and suggests solutions to overcome. Keywords: Traffic control management, Road accidents, Pedestrians’ Practices, 2-wheelers/4-wheelers’ Practices, Public Works Department Personnel’s Practices, License Issuing Authority/Regional Transport Officers’ Practices, Traffic Police Practices.

A Secure Traffic Police Remote Sensing Approach via a Deep Learning-Based Low-Altitude Vehicle Speed Detector through UAVs in Smart Cites: Algorithm, Implementation and Evaluation

Nowadays, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has a wide application in transportation. For instance, by leveraging it, we are able to perform accurate and real-time vehicle speed detection in an IoT-based smart city. Although numerous vehicle speed estimation methods exist, most of them lack real-time detection in different situations and scenarios. To fill the gap, this paper introduces a novel low-altitude vehicle speed detector system using UAVs for remote sensing applications of smart cities, forging to increase traffic safety and security. To this aim, (1) we have found the best possible Raspberry PI’s field of view (FOV) camera in indoor and outdoor scenarios by changing its height and degree. Then, (2) Mobile Net-SSD deep learning model parameters have been embedded in the PI4B processor of a physical car at different speeds. Finally, we implemented it in a real environment at the JXUST university intersection by changing the height (0.7 to 3 m) and the camera angle on the UAV. Specifically, this paper proposed an intelligent speed control system without the presence of real police that has been implemented on the edge node with the configuration of a PI4B and an Intel Neural Computing 2, along with the PI camera, which is armed with a Mobile Net-SSD deep learning model for the smart detection of vehicles and their speeds. The main purpose of this article is to propose the use of drones as a tool to detect the speeds of vehicles, especially in areas where it is not easy to access or install a fixed camera, in the context of future smart city traffic management and control. The experimental results have proven the superior performance of the proposed low-altitude UAV system rather than current studies for detecting and estimating the vehicles’ speeds in highly dynamic situations and different speeds. As the results showed, our solution is highly effective on crowded roads, such as junctions near schools, hospitals, and with unsteady vehicles from the speed level point of view.

Study on control and optimization algorithm of dynamic green wave used in city traffic intelligent control

Study on control and optimization algorithm of dynamic green wave used in city traffic intelligent control

Congestion Free Analysis for Emergency Vehicles Response in Tri-City (Panchkula-Chandigarh Mohali) Using LTE-A

For any country’s growth is depend on their people’s growth, whenever we talk about the growth of any country then it shows the achievements done by their peoples. Day by day population are increasing and peoples are enjoying their luxurious life with big bungalows, and big luxurious cars but not a single vehicle it could be per person average of two-three vehicles results to noise, air pollutions and important factor is the increment of traffic of the city. In this paper we are not praising for the growth of the country, no doubt for the growth but we want to focus on the traffic system control. Day to day traffic is increasing in which the big problem is faced for the safe passage for the ambulance vehicle’s escape or some other person who is in need of urgent work anywhere apart from medical facilities. We heard many patients leads to death in the ambulance and doctor says ‘‘it’s too late, if you could reach at least 10minutes before then the patient could have been saved his/her life’’. So here we focused in paper to facilitate the emergency services (only concerned to patient’s ambulance) signal free. This will be possible by using the telecom technologies along with city traffic control stations to implement the things made easier for the signal free passage to escape of ambulance from the traffic lights or streets means the ambulance would not stop in the traffic jams. This can be made possible using VANET-LTE advanced technology.

Congestion free analysis for emergency vehicles response in tri-city (Panchkula-Chandigarh-Mohali) using LTE-A

For any country’s growth is depend on their people’s growth, whenever we talk about the growth of any country then it shows the achievements done by their peoples. Day by day population are increasing and peoples are enjoying their luxurious life with big bungalows, and big luxurious cars but not a single vehicle it could be per person average of two-three vehicles results to noise, air pollutions and important factor is the increment of traffic of the city. In this paper we are not praising for the growth of the country, no doubt for the growth but we want to focus on the traffic system control. Day to day traffic is increasing in which the big problem is faced for the safe passage for the ambulance vehicle’s escape or some other person who is in need of urgent work anywhere apart from medical facilities. We heard many patients leads to death in the ambulance and doctor says ‘‘it’s too late, if you could reach at least 10minutes before then the patient could have been saved his/her life’’. So here we focused in paper to facilitate the emergency services (only concerned to patient’s ambulance) signal free. This will be possible by using the telecom technologies along with city traffic control stations to implement the things made easier for the signal free passage to escape of ambulance from the traffic lights or streets means the ambulance would not stop in the traffic jams. This can be made possible using VANET-LTE advanced technology.

Analysis of the mental workload of city traffic control operators while monitoring traffic density: A field study

IntroductionIt is important to evaluate when and why the mental workload of operators increases during system operation. The city traffic control center (TCC) is a complex work system, and it is important to describe MW as a condition related to this. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the mental workload of operators while monitoring traffic loads in the city TCC. MethodsElectroencephalography and electrooculography data were collected from 16 operators while performing their daily work, in four conditions: resting state, low traffic density, high traffic density, and recovery. The Simplified-Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (S-SWAT) was used to evaluate the subjective workload of operators. ResultsThe findings indicate that operators experience a larger mental workload during high traffic density than during low traffic density (p < 0.001). TCC stressors led to significant changes in EEG bands, such as theta, alpha, and eye activity. Significant differences were observed for subjective ratings of MW (p < 0.001). ConclusionAlthough the working situations of TCC operators are repeated daily, their mental fatigue and stress level gradually increase, leading to deterioration in their mental health. It may be necessary periodically to monitor their mental health and to consider their organizational behavior during traffic density monitoring. Relevance to industrycomplex work systems have increased the requirement for many operators to conduct mental tasks in real work conditions such as city traffic density monitoring. When evaluating such workplaces, it is important to identify situations requiring increased mental workload that might impose additional stress on operators, decreasing their performance. Based on the results, the traffic control center director would be aware of the MW condition of the operators.

Assessment of operators' mental workload using physiological and subjective measures in cement, city traffic and power plant control centers.

Background: The present study aimed to evaluate the operators’ mental workload (MW) of cement, city traffic control and power plant control centers using subjective and objective measures during system vital parameters monitoring. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2014 to February 2015 at the cement, city traffic control and power plant control centers. Electrocardiography and electroencephalography data were recorded from forty males during performing their daily working in resting, low mental workload (LMW), high mental workload (HMW) and recovery conditions (each block 5 minutes). The NASA-Task Load Index (TLX) was used to evaluate the subjective workload of the operators. Results: The results showed that increasing MW had a significant effect on the operators subjective responses in two conditions ([1,53] = 216.303, P < 0.001, η2 = 0.803). Also,the Task-MW interaction effect on operators subjective responses was significant (F [3, 53] = 12.628,P < 0.001, η2 = 0.417). Analysis of repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that increasing mental demands had a significant effect on heart rate, low frequency/high frequency ratio, theta and alpha band activity. Conclusion: The results suggested that when operators’ mental demands especially in traffic control and power plant tasks increased, their mental fatigue and stress level increased and their mental health deteriorated. Therefore, it may be necessary to implement an ergonomic program or administrative control to manage mental probably health in these control centers. Furthermore, by evaluating MW, the control center director can organize the human resources for each MW condition to sustain the appropriate performance as well as improve system functions.

Effects of mental workload on physiological and subjective responses during traffic density monitoring: A field study

This study evaluated operators' mental workload while monitoring traffic density in a city traffic control center. To determine the mental workload, physiological signals (ECG, EMG) were recorded and the NASA-Task Load Index (TLX) was administered for 16 operators. The results showed that the operators experienced a larger mental workload during high traffic density than during low traffic density. The traffic control center stressors caused changes in heart rate variability features and EMG amplitude, although the average workload score was significantly higher in HTD conditions than in LTD conditions. The findings indicated that increasing traffic congestion had a significant effect on HR, RMSSD, SDNN, LF/HF ratio, and EMG amplitude. The results suggested that when operators' workload increases, their mental fatigue and stress level increase and their mental health deteriorate. Therefore, it maybe necessary to implement an ergonomic program to manage mental health. Furthermore, by evaluating mental workload, the traffic control center director can organize the center's traffic congestion operators to sustain the appropriate mental workload and improve traffic control management.

Study on the Control of Traffic Congestion Based on Hierarchical Road Capacity

City traffic congestion control as the core problem in ITS, has been paid more and more attention. This article from the actual characteristics of spatial structure of city to divide different traffic levels is based on the flow of people and vehicles that two variables, which foundation underlies a new model of road capacity that describe and analysis the problem of road capacity from the needs of congestion control. Only in this way can we deepen the understanding over the dynamic traffic flow of city, so as to strengthen the purpose of city traffic network congestion and control.

Traffic in the Smart City: Exploring City-Wide Sensing for Traffic Control Center Augmentation

Smart city technologies can provide substantial benefits that improve people's daily lives. Here, the authors investigate how ubiquitous traffic sensing technologies and techniques can be incorporated with conventional traffic control and monitoring practices in the city of Oulu, Finland. In collaboration with the city's traffic control center and traffic planners, they exploit inductive magnetic sensing and Wi-Fi scanning across the city center, and develop tools to assist traffic operators in their tasks.

Research on the Cooperation Method of Traffic Control and Route Guidance of Local Area Network

The city traffic control system and traffic guidance system are two important subsystems of Intelligent Transportation Systems, also main means of the city traffic management. This paper studies the method of control and guidance system coordination for a specific local area, usually 2-6 signalized intersections, places a detailed analysis from the signal phase changes, guidance information display and other aspects of information to ensure the practical feasibility of the method. This paper presents a systematic approach to ensure interoperability in a variety of state regional road traffic running smoothly and orderly, reduce the incidence of congestion, to avoid further deterioration of the congestion, improving the efficiency of the vehicle access to and pass through the region.

The Application of Fuzzy Control in the Intelligent Crossroad Traffic Control

Considering the complexity, uncertainty, randomness of the city crossroad traffic, it is very difficult to structure precise mathematic model, the traditional traffic theory and method applied in the city traffic control cannot deal with it efficiently. However the fuzzy control can handle it intelligently without precise mathematic model, as it can make decision just like people thinking in brain. Based on the practical experience, it has a big application prospect in intelligent city traffic control. According to the development of Fuzzy Control, we summarized the basic composing and design approach of Fuzzy Control. Finally we introduced the design of the intelligent crossroad traffic control. Compared with the simulation of fixed control, we found that the performance and parameter were improved based on the Fuzzy Control.

Trajectory anonymity in publishing personal mobility data

Recent years have witnessed pervasive use of location-aware devices such as GSM mobile phones, GPS-enabled PDAs, location sensors, and active RFID tags. The use of these devices generates a huge collection of spatio-temporal data, variously called moving object data, trajectory data, or moblity data. These data can be used for various data analysis purposes such as city traffic control, mobility management, urban planning, and location-based service advertisements. Clearly, the spatio-temporal data so collected may help an attacker to discover personal and sensitive information like user habits, social customs, religious and sexual preferences of individuals. Consequently, it raises serious concerns about privacy. Simply replacing users' real identifiers (name, SSN, etc.) with pseudonyms is insufficient to guarantee anonymity. The problem is that due to the existence of quasi-identifiers, i.e., spatio-temporal data points that can be linked to external information to re-identify individuals, the attacker may be able to trace the anonymous spatio-temporal data back to individuals. In this survey, we discuss recent advancement on anonymity preserving data publishing of moving object databases in an off-line fashion. We first introduce several anonymity models, then we describe in detail some of the proposed techniques to enforce trajectory anonymity, discussing their merits and limitations. We conclude by identifying challenging open problems that need attention.

An OVerview on the Adaptive Dynamic Programming Based Urban City Traffic Signal Optimal Control

This paper surveys the algorithms and application of a hot spot adaptive dynamic programming (ADP). Some key research issues, including convergence, stability, and coordination of adaptive dynamic programming, are extensively analyzed. The problems of urban city traffic signal control and current control schemes are introduced, as well as the present and potential applications of adaptive dynamic programming in the optimization of traffic signal control both in surface way intersections and freeway ramp metering systems.

Ecological Security in Lithuania: The current Situation and Problems

In 2006, the trends in the change of ecological risk factors in Lithuania were similar to those of 2005. The risk factors, which contributed to the change of the state's ecological condition in the field of the atmosphere protection, included the rapidly growing number of automobiles, inefficient city traffic control systems, and the lack of bypasses, whereas the risks in the sector of water consumption safety were posed by a worn out central water supply networks, insufficient quality of the drinking water and dug well water. Thus, the objectives set down in the National Ecological Security Assurance Programme are to reduce ecological risk, prevent a negative impact on the environment and to set the national priorities in the sphere of the prevention of emergencies. The tasks crucial for the implementation of the state's priorities are related to ensuring ecological security by securing sustainable economic development and reducing the negative impact of an emergency on the environment and residents. Dissemination of objective information on ecological security, collection and analysis of reliable information and its disclosure to the public will encourage the cooperation with neighbouring countries in the spheres of ecological security and pollution prevention. In order to accomplish the set objectives, i.e. to ensure ecological security, it is necessary to create legal and institutional conditions for mutual coordination, management and control of actions for the responsible institutions.

An Efficient Simulation Methodology for the Design of Traffic Lights at Intersections in Urban Areas

City traffic light control is a complex, challenging problem, making it difficult to perform analyses with traditional analytical techniques. An essential goal of traffic management, planning, and design is setting traffic signals at intersections to minimize the queue length and vehicle delay time. The author presents a simulation methodology that can be used as an efficient design aid for the analysis, management, and design of efficient traffic signaling in intersections. A four-leg signalized intersection is used as a design example. The performance of the three-phase and four-phase plans using simulation was compared, and simulation results showed that the three-phase plan has better performance characteristics than the four-phase plan. The main performance metrics considered are the mean waiting time, mean queue length, and mean utilization of green-light time. The results obtained demonstrate the efficiency of the methodology.

Induction Loop Detection of Bicycles Flow Based on Pattern Recognition (PR) Techniques

Bicycles flow detection and recognition is a very important factor which will affect the efficiency of city traffic control systems in China. However, to develop a reliable bicycles flow detecting device, as known, is still a knotty problem needed to be solved. The authors present a novel detecting system, in which the signals of bicycles flow is picked-up by buried inductive loop and the classification of bicycles flow is determined by using pattern recognition technique. A prototype of this detecting system has been successfully operated, together with a real-time traffic control system developed by Tianjin University, at an intersection in Tianjin for more than 4 years. In this paper, the detecting principle of bicycles flow and the design of sensor subsystem are presented firstly. Then the characteristics of signal transmission structure from sensors to the host instrument is described in detail. Finally, the pattern recognition method of bicycles flow and the experimented results are also given.