What's making advanced traffic management systems even more advanced

Advanced traffic management systems (ATMS) are already an advanced form of traffic management systems. But the addition of more intelligent subsystems are making them even better at easing highway traffic congestion.

The basic aim of ATMS is to reduce traffic congestion by improving the efficiency of how existing infrastructures are utilized, which is done through sensing, communications and data-processing technologies.

Paola Clerici, GM and CMO of Sprinx Technologies noted the additional deployment of key subsystems such as incident detection systems, tolling/congestion charge systems and parking management systems is making ATMS even more efficient and effective.

Nowadays, ATMS are also being complemented with advanced information gathering functions from sources such as Google Maps and Waze, as well as from mobile apps that collect anonymous GPS data, weather sensor data and data collected from license plate recognition (LPR), she added.

But as time goes on, traffic management centers have evolved by incorporating even more specialized systems that need to be substituted or integrated for global situational awareness that breaks down traditional operational silos, said Jose Carlos Riveira, Strategy and Portfolio Management at Kapsch TrafficCom.

Effective decision-making is requiring more efficient subsystems. These pieces allow traffic managers to make and take quicker, more effective decisions and actions, which are enabled by new sources of data and new technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.

“The use of the latest-generation video analysis algorithms based on deep learning technologies, both in real time and in post processing, combined with the most modern network infrastructures, represents one focus for improving the operational efficiency,” Clerici said.

Riveira added, “Traffic management agencies are making big efforts to achieve global situational awareness and intelligence on top of existing systems, so they can use available resources in more efficient ways, being able to anticipate possible incidents or react in a proactive way to mitigate side effects.”

Information integration and inter-agency collaboration of traffic management systems with traffic data collection and traffic information systems from different agencies — from national, regional and local levels — is a key point to achieve the best performance. This is helped by the increasing availability of sensors and technologies that can be used for traffic data collection and traffic information systems.

“The objective of data integration of these multiple sources is none other than to fine-tune the knowledge of the current traffic status and be able to guide users on their journeys,” said José Luis Añonuevo, GM of Traffic Management Systems Operations at Indra.

They are also exchanging information with and collecting information from vehicles themselves through connected vehicle technology. Since ATMS are no longer just command and control systems, they must also be able manage and process the massive amounts of data resulting from the Internet of Things (IoT) and V2X (vehicle-to-everything). Riveira noted that ATMS have to evolve to incorporate capabilities to communicate with vehicles in-vehicle through V2X and without the traditional road infrastructure. “V2X is transforming the way we manage traffic and interact with the vehicle and the drivers,” he said.

Now that vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) infrastructures have a clearer path toward deployments it will constitute the backbone for direct interaction with vehicles and drivers, in addition to V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) safety applications, Riveira explained.