Using real-time road traffic data to evaluate congestion

A new project has shown that by using existing sources of information about traffic flow it is possible to create a minute-by-minute image of congestion in cities.

Britain’s roads are getting more and more congested. Motorways and major roads have sensors and information displays but it is too expensive to fully monitor cities.
 
Researchers at Cambridge University’s Computer Laboratory, aim to decrease the congestion in cities by developing ways for low-cost monitoring methods to analyse the flow of traffic.
 
The TIME project (Transport Information Monitoring Environment) aims to inform businesses, government, and the public so that they may use the roads with less frustration; help transport operators respond to changes while providing a good service; and allow road planning and public policy to be informed by quantitative evidence.
 
Focusing on the city of Cambridge, the TIME project has ‘re-purposed’ data sources from Cambridgeshire County Council and Stagecoach, incorporating them into a system that can transport, collect, and analyse data.

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Image: Traffic  Credit: Sheffield Tiger from Flickr Creative Commons

(Image removed)

 

Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge



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