Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/110509
management systems and ultimately reduces the problems associated with travel delays. timing patterns based upon the time of day, recognizing ���The average driver doesn���t necessarily understand that commuter patterns (like or appreciate the systems already in place to direct morning and evening rush hour) are repetitive. traffic,��� said Jeff Gerken, P.E., PTOE, president of Albeck what happens when weather, special events or holidays Gerken change those recurring traffic patterns? The time of day Inc. (AGI), a Tampa-based transportation engineering firm that is partnering with the University of South Florida (USF) on an FHTCC Matching Grants Research Program project. Most independent intersections But, system continues to run the same timing plan. Another type of system, called traffic responsive, uses field sensors to periodically collect data at operate using interconnected intersections and relays that information inductive-loop technology that detects a vehicle���s to centralized control software that can select appropriate magnetic field from an installed cable in the pavement patterns based on real-time traffic conditions. The one and communicates with the signal to change the disadvantage to this system is the time delay in changing light. Helpful for traffic demands in suburban or rural the patterns; the system implements for the next time communities, this method isn���t as suitable in cities where period what may have only been appropriate for the last cars move through multiple intersections that need to be time period. synchronized to achieve optimal traffic flow. To help that control software better predict traffic In urbanized areas, groups of signals are often patterns, Albeck Gerken tapped USF assistant professor, coordinated with each other by a computer that selects Dr. Yu Zhang, to develop an algorithm that examines when to change its settings for the next traffic pattern. Thanks to her experience in transportation system analysis, Zhang and her team studied data that AGI had collected over the past few years to identify what are called ���time of day breakpoints,��� which mark when to change from one traffic signal timing plan to the next. ���These findings from the data are put through additional simulations that test how traffic conditions improve when using new time of day breakpoints and corresponding time plans,��� said Zhang. ���The work we���ve done with this project has also set the stage for potential research in optimizing traffic controls of coordinated intersections by considering both vehicle delays and greenhouse gas emissions, and understanding the spatial distributions of vehicle emissions along corridors.��� For Albeck Gerken, the research has already added to the firm���s technology capabilities. ���We���re looking at how this methodology can be integrated into our future work and how it can be implemented in other cities around the state and around the country,��� said Gerken. ���Working with USF has been a good collaboration and complements the type of research we already conduct.��� florida.HIGH.TECH 2013 fht_univ_research_2013.indd 23 23 2/11/13 2:07 PM