AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION

IN 1963 THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHED A TRAFFIC INFORMATION CENTER AND ASSIGNED IT THE TASK OF REORGANIZING THE DAILY OPERATION OF TRAFFIC REGULATION AND OF PROVIDING DRIVERS WITH REAL-TIME TRAFFIC INFORMATION. FIVE DEGREES OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION WERE DEFINED AND EQUATED TO THREE PARAMETERS: LANE QUEUE LENGTH, NUMBER OF STANDING CARS PER LANE, AND NUMBER OF SIGNAL CYCLES MISSED. INDUCTION LOOPS WERE EMPLOYED TO MEASURE STOCHASTIC FLOWS AS A MEANS OF ASSESSING THE RELATION BETWEEN OCCUPANCY AND TRAFFIC VOLUME, SPACE-AVERAGED SPEED AND TRAFFIC VOLUME, AND TRAFFIC DENSITY AND TRAFFIC VOLUME. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE SECOND OF THESE IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEASURE OF CONGESTION, AND A MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION IS DERIVED FOR A FACTOR CALLED THE "PRESENCE TIME TO VOLUME RATIO" (PTVR). THEORETICAL SUBSTANTIATION OF THE VALIDITY OF PTRV AS A MEASURE OF CONGESTION IS PROVIDED, AND THE RESULTS OF FIELD TESTS ARE REPORTED. IN THE TESTS, DETECTORS WERE INSTALLED 180, 360, AND 900 METERS FROM STREET AND FREEWAY INTERSECTIONS. A COMPARISON OF AUTOMATIC-DETECTION REPORTS WITH THOSE OF POLICE STATIONED AT THE THREE DETECTION POINTS IS PRESENTED.

• Corporate Authors:

  Electrical Engineering In Japan

  ,    
• Authors:
  • OKAMOTO, H
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 33-41
• Serial:
  • Volume: 91
  • Issue Number: 5

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Freeways; Headways; Intersections; Loop detectors; Measurement; Queuing; Streets; Traffic congestion; Traffic speed; Traffic surveillance; Traffic volume; Vehicle detectors
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00226545
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 15 1973 12:00AM