Short-Term Prediction of Travel Time for Indian Traffic Conditions Using Buses as Probe Vehicles

Travel time information is a vital component of many Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) applications such as Route Guidance Systems (RGS), Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS), Advanced Public Transportation System (APTS), Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), etc. In recent years, the number of vehicles in India has increased tremendously, leading to severe traffic congestion and pollution in urban areas, particularly during peak periods. A desirable strategy to deal with such issues is to shift more people from personal vehicles to public transport by providing better level of service (comfort, convenience, etc.). In this context, APTS is one of the most important ITS applications which can significantly improve the traffic situation in India. One such application will be to provide accurate information about bus arrivals to passengers, leading to reduced waiting times at bus stops. This needs a real time data collection technique, a quick and reliable prediction technique to calculate the expected travel time based on the real time data and informing the passengers regarding the same (which needs a fast communication facility as well as means to convey the information to passengers, such as variable message signs, cell phones, etc.). The present study explores the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected from public transportation buses plying on urban roadways in the metropolitan city of Chennai, India, for predicting travel times using an algorithm based on the Kalman filtering technique. The results of this study are promising, considering the nature of the existing traffic and the variability involved. The work presented here is one of the first attempts for real time short term prediction of travel time for ITS applications in Indian traffic conditions.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Vanajakshi, Lelitha Devi
  • Subramanian, Shankar Coimbatore
  • Sivanandan, R
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 87th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2008-1-13 to 2008-1-17
• Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: DVD
• Features: Maps; References;
• Pagination: 18p
• Monograph Title: TRB 87th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Advanced public transportation systems; Advanced traffic management systems; Advanced traveler information systems; Global Positioning System; Intelligent transportation systems; Public transit; Route guidance; Travel time
• Geographic Terms: India
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01088626
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 08-1488
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 25 2008 2:33PM