Best Practice: Intelligent Traffic Management and Control System

BEST PRACTICE AVIVIM is Tel Aviv-Yafo's Intelligent Traffic Management and Control system that aims to alleviate adverse traffic conditions while ensuring mobility and accessibility. The systems' sophisticated reporting and analysis capabilities provide necessary information to generate timing programs to optimize traffic flow. ISSUE Road infrastructure in most metropolitan and urban areas cannot keep up with the increased demand for road use. Since expansion of the road infrastructure network is limited, it is necessary to develop methods and technologies to make existing road infrastructure more efficient, allowing for smooth running traffic and road safety. Tel Aviv-Yafo had an outdated and expensive traffic control system which made it difficult to integrate new technologies. Tel Aviv Municipality required a system that was flexible enough to accommodate disparate hardware platforms as well as provide the opportunity for future growth and innovation. The main goal of this initiative is to promote urban mobility. Emphasis was placed increasing the efficiency of existing transport infrastructures to minimize the adverse effects of traffic. Traffic management and control systems should reflect the unique characteristics of the urban transportation network, the acquired local knowledge in handling traffic events and the organizational structure of the municipality in which they are implemented. AVIVIM was developed within this framework. Its objectives are: Develop a new and innovative traffic management system – To meet present and future traffic needs, this system incorporates evolving traffic management methodologies and technological advancements, as well as local knowledge and requirements. Versatility – A traffic system able to promote sustainable development, prioritize public transport and pedestrian movement. Independence of the equipment suppliers – Many existing traffic management and control systems meet their entire technical capabilities only when the hardware components are of a specific brand. This makes equipment upgrading and adjustments expensive. The AVIVIM system enabled the updating of a proprietary traffic control system within an open architecture. All the main components of the new traffic-management and control system were developed using standard software tools, mainly application generators. These tools have proven to be efficient in a dynamic software-development environment. Expand system capabilities – The methodology provides the system with flexibility to exploit technological developments that evolve over time. Such developments are reflected both in the increased functionality of existing devices (such as signal controllers) and in the emergence of new devices that can be utilized for traffic management. CitectSCADA software is a suitable tool for assimilating new control …