O ne of the tasks of Rijkswaterstaat (Dutch Highway Agency) is to provide actual and reliable traffic jams information to the road users. In the past, these traffic jams information was computed using the loop data.
This method has several limitations, e.g.
- no nationwide coverage: there is no traffic jam information on the routes where there is no loop.
- extra delays (> 3 min) due to the long information chain with multiple systems: MTM – Monica – Monibas – Trefi – TOS.
- high maintenance costs because of the multiple systems in the information chain.
- low resolution: heads and tails of the traffic jam can only be determined at the loop locations (per 500 m)
That is why RWS wants to replace the outdated information chain with a new algorithm. Our consortium (Scenwise, Bureau Onderweg and Vortech) is the winner of this tender.
The new traffic jam detection algorithm is based on FCD. The new approach has the following advantages:
- It has a nationwide coverage, even in areas where there is no lane signaling management (i.e. without loop detectors);
- The length of the traffic jams and the heads and tails of the traffic jams can be determined with higher accuracy thanks to the high resolution of FCD (every 50 m).
- The information chain is much shorter. This means more up-to-date data (1 min): The new solution replaces the processing steps of the current MTM-Monica-Monibas-Trefi information chain;
- The solution is scalable to the arterial roads and urban road network. We also demonstrated this during the pilot.
The project was carried out with fixed-time and fixed-price agreement. Both Rijkswaterstaat and NDW are very satisfied with our scrum/agile development method and the final results. The algorithm was put into production shortly after the project was completed. The new algorithm has been in service since 2021.
