Development and testing of braking and acceleration features for vehicle advanced driver assistance system

<span lang="EN-US">Traffic congestion is a constant problem for cities worldwide. The human driving inefficiency and poor urban planning and development contribute to traffic buildup and travel discomfort. An example of human inefficiency is the phantom traffic jam, which is caused by unnecessary braking, causing traffic to slow down, and eventually coming to a stop. In this study, a brake and acceleration feature (BAF) for the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) is proposed to mitigate the effects of the phantom traffic phenomenon. In its initial stage, the BAF provides a heads-up display that gives information on how much braking and acceleration input is needed to maintain smooth driving conditions, i.e., without sudden acceleration or deceleration, while observing a safe distance from the vehicle in front. BAF employs a fuzzy logic controller that takes distance information from a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor and the vehicle’s instantaneous speed from the engine control unit (ECU). It then calculates the corresponding percentage value of needed acceleration and braking in order to maintain travel objectives of smooth and safe-distance travel. Empirical results show that the system suggests acceleration and braking values slightly higher than the driver’s actual inputs and can achieve 90% accuracy overall.</span>

Prediction of Vehicular Traffic Flow using Levenberg-Marquardt Artificial Neural Network Model: Italy Road Transportation System

In the last decades, the Italian road transport system has been characterized by severe and consistent traffic congestion and in particular Rome is one of the Italian cities most affected by this problem. In this study, a LevenbergMarquardt (LM) artificial neural network heuristic model was used to predict the traffic flow of non-autonomous vehicles. Traffic datasets were collected using both inductive loop detectors and video cameras as acquisition systems and selecting some parameters including vehicle speed, time of day, traffic volume and number of vehicles. The model showed a training, test and regression value (R2) of 0.99892, 0.99615 and 0.99714 respectively. The results of this research add to the growing body of literature on traffic flow modelling and help urban planners and traffic managers in terms of the traffic control and the provision of convenient travel routes for pedestrians and motorists.

Impact of COVID19 Forced Confinement for CO2 Emission, NO2 Concentration, and Traffic Congestion Throughout EU Nations and United Kingdom (UK)

The coronavirus outbreak has led several cities to come to the standstill and country lockdown within several locations to reduce coronavirus spread. Here we investigate CO2 emission, NO2 concentration, and mobility throughout EU nations and the United Kingdom (UK) from January 2019 until the end of August 2021. In accordance with the previous research obtained by Liu et al. and Le Quéré et al., as mentioned in the literature, our results show a reduction of CO2 emission for an extended period of 2020 and 2021 compared to the annual emission in 2019. This work obtained abrupt reductions of 10.66% and 4.36% in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Although the ratios and relationship between CO2 and NO2 were considered, we found that monthly NO2 concentration was reduced by 2–39% for ±1σ in 2020 and 13–34% for ±1σ in 2021 (until August) relative to 2019. Additionally, during confinements, the average annual mobility was substantially reduced by 36% for 2020 and 24% for 2021 (until August) relative to 2019. By discussing the role of distinct countries, the current study can contribute to comprehending the role of coronavirus as a huge disruptive factor in socio-economic activities, air quality, and city mobility.

Achieving ‘Active’ 30 Minute Cities: How Feasible Is It to Reach Work within 30 Minutes Using Active Transport Modes?

Confronted with rapid urbanization, population growth, traffic congestion, and climate change, there is growing interest in creating cities that support active transport modes including walking, cycling, or public transport. The ‘30 minute city’, where employment is accessible within 30 min by active transport, is being pursued in some cities to reduce congestion and foster local living. This paper examines the spatial relationship between employment, the skills of residents, and transport opportunities, to answer three questions about Australia’s 21 largest cities: (1) What percentage of workers currently commute to their workplace within 30 min? (2) If workers were to shift to an active transport mode, what percent could reach their current workplace within 30 min? and (3) If it were possible to relocate workers closer to their employment or relocate employment closer to their home, what percentage could reach work within 30 min by each mode? Active transport usage in Australia is low, with public transport, walking, and cycling making up 16.8%, 2.8%, and 1.1% respectively of workers’ commutes. Cycling was found to have the most potential for achieving the 30 min city, with an estimated 29.5% of workers able to reach their current workplace were they to shift to cycling. This increased to 69.1% if workers were also willing and able to find a similar job closer to home, potentially reducing commuting by private motor vehicle from 79.3% to 30.9%.

An Optimized Load Balancing Using Firefly Algorithm in Flying Ad-Hoc Network

In flying ad hoc networks (FANETs), load balancing is a vital issue. Numerous conventional routing protocols that have been created are ineffective at load balancing. The different scope of its applications has given it wide applicability, as well as the necessity for location assessment accuracy. Subsequently, implementing traffic congestion control based on the current connection status is difficult. To successfully tackle the above problem, we frame the traffic congestion control algorithm as a network utility optimization problem that takes different parameters of the network into account. For the location calculation of unknown nodes, the suggested approach distributes the computational load among flying nodes. Furthermore, the technique has been optimized in a FANET utilizing the firefly algorithm along with the traffic congestion control algorithm. The unknown nodes are located using the optimized backbone. Because the computational load is divided efficiently among the flying nodes, the simulation results show that our technique considerably enhances the network longevity and balanced traffic.

Research on the Intelligent Assignment Model of Urban Traffic Planning Based on Optimal Path Optimization Algorithm

Congestion and complexity in the field of highway transportation have risen steadily in recent years, particularly because the growth rate of vehicles has far outpaced the growth rate of roads and other transportation facilities. To ensure smooth traffic, reduce traffic congestion, improve road safety, and reduce the negative impact of air pollution on the environment, an increasing number of traffic management departments are turning to new scientifically developed technology. The urban road traffic is simulated by nodes and sidelines in this study, which is combined with graph theory, and the information of real-time changes of road traffic is added to display and calculate the relevant data and parameters in the road. On this foundation, the dynamic path optimization algorithm model is discussed in the context of high informationization. Although the improved algorithm’s optimal path may not be the conventional shortest path, its actual travel time is the shortest, which is more in line with users’ actual travel needs to a large extent.

Detection of Road Traffic Anomalies Based on Computational Data Science

The development of 5G has enabled the autonomous vehicles (AVs) to have full control over all functions. The AV acts autonomously and collects travel data based on various smart devices and sensors, with the goal of enabling it to operate under its own power. However, the collected data is affected by several sources that degrade the forecasting accuracy. To manage large amounts of traffic data in different formats, a computational data science approach (CDS) is proposed. The computational data science scheme introduced to detect anomalies in traffic data that negatively affect traffic efficiency. The combination of data science and advanced artificial intelligence techniques, such as deep leaning provides higher degree of data anomalies detection which leads to reduce traffic congestion and vehicular queuing. The main contribution of the CDS approach is summarized in detection of the factors that caused data anomalies early to avoid long- term traffic congestions. Moreover, CDS indicated a promoting results in various road traffic scenarios.

Effects of traffic signal coordination on the safety performance of urban arterials

Urban traffic congestion and crashes have been considered by city planners as critical challenges to the economic development of the city. Traffic signal coordination, which connects a series of signals along an arterial by various coordination methodologies, has been proved as one of the most cost-effective means of reducing traffic congestion. In this regard, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) or Transportation Management Centers (TMC) have included signal timing coordination in their strategic plans. Nevertheless, concerns on the safety effects of traffic signal coordination have been continuously raised by both transportation agencies and the public. This is mainly because signal coordination may increase the travel speed along an arterial, which increases the risk and severity of traffic collisions. To date, there is neither solid evidence from the field to support the concern, nor theoretical-level models to analyze this issue. This research aims to investigate the effects of traffic signal coordination on the safety performance of urban arterials through microsimulation modeling of two traffic operational conditions: free signal operation and coordinated signals, respectively. Three urban arterials in Reno, Nevada were selected as the simulation testbed and were coded in the PTV VISSIM software. The simulated trajectory data were analyzed by the Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM) to estimate the number of traffic conflicts. Sensitivity analyses were conducted for various traffic demand levels. Results show that under unsaturated conditions, traffic signal coordination could reduce the number of conflicts in comparison with the free signal operation condition. However, under oversaturated conditions, no significant difference was found between coordinated and free signal operations. Findings from this research indicate that traffic signal coordination has the potential to reduce the risk of crashes on urban arterials under unsaturated conditions.

Ride-Hailing Service Adoption and Local Context in Motorcycle-Based Societies: Case Study in Hanoi, Vietnam

The ride-hailing service (RHS) has emerged as a major form of daily travel in many Southeast Asian cities where motorcycles are extensively used. This study aims to analyze the local context in motorcycle-based societies, which may affect the establishment of travelers’ choice set after the appearance of RHSs. In particular, it empirically compares three types of choice-set structures in the context of urban travel mode choice by estimating standard logit and nested logit models to test six hypotheses on the associations of RHS adoption with its determinants. Revealed preference data of 449 trips from both RHS users and non-RHS users were collected through a face-to-face interview-based questionnaire survey in Hanoi, Vietnam, in December 2020. The results of model estimations revealed: (1) a substitutional effect for two-wheelers but not for four-wheelers, (2) a significant positive influence of car ownership on car RHS adoption but not on motorcycle RHS adoption, (3) significantly high sensitivity to travel time of motorcycle RHS but not of car RHS, (4) a significant negative effect of traffic congestion on car RHS adoption but an insignificant one on motorcycle RHS adoption, and (5) a significant positive association of an individual’s experience in using a smartphone with car RHSs but insignificant association with motorcycle RHSs. Our findings suggest that transportation policies of RHS motorcycles should be different from those of RHS cars because of the heterogeneity in travel behaviors of RHS users between them. They also indicate that the transition from motorcycles to cars as well as the difference in service availability among different types of RHSs should be incorporated into the development of transportation policies in Southeast Asian cities.