Real-Time Urban Traffic State Estimation with A-GPS Mobile Phones as Probes

This paper presents a microscopic traffic simulation-based method for urban traffic state estimation using Assisted Global Positioning System (A-GPS) mobile phones. In this approach, real-time location data are collected by A-GPS mobile phones to track vehicles traveling on urban roads. In addition, tracking data obtained from individual mobile probes are aggregated to provide estimations of average road link speeds along rolling time periods. Moreover, the estimated average speeds are classified to different traffic condition levels, which are prepared for displaying a real-time traffic map on mobile phones. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, which are fundamental for the subsequent development of a system demonstrator.