With the idea of converting cities into digital cities and making the life of residents easy in every sector, the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) is a crucial component. Mobility is an essential factor in any city, and people use the transport system to travel throughout the city whether to college, office, park or any other place. ITS focuses on achieving traffic efficiency by curtailing traffic safety control issues. Here is an exclusive look at what an intelligent transport system is and how it functions.
What Is an Intelligent Transport System?
The ITS is an innovative application that provides advanced solutions to different transportation modes and traffic management. The system helps to save the resident’s time and contributes to achieving a digital city by offering accurate and up-to-date traffic information. Commuters become more informed about traffic enabling them to make smarter and safer transport networks.
How Does an Intelligent Transport System Work?
A Traffic Management Centre (TMC) acts as the fundamental unit of ITS where all information and data is analyzed and collected. Transportation authorities usually operate the centre. In this unit, data is collected and analyzed for additional operations and traffic control management in real-time. They also offer feedback to the relevant service providers to ensure proper decisions about driver safety, fleet management and other transport network situations such as vehicle breakdowns and accidents. The main categories of the entire process include;
Data collection
The Intelligent Transport System depends on the accurate collection of data to be effective. Transportation services data is collected using various hardware, including GPS, automatic vehicle identifiers, sensors, GPS and cameras. The type of data collected includes; surveillance, traffic count, location, travel speed, vehicle weight and traffic delays.
Data analysis
The collected data is stored in the data collection centres for analysis. Because the examination requires to be done in real-time, the data analysis phases, including error rectification, data cleansing, adaptive logical analysis and data synthesis, are automated. Special software is used to identify data inconsistencies, and if it is significant, the data is flagged for analysis. Controllers will use the analyzed data to make fast predictions about traffic scenarios that can be implemented and delivered.
Data transmission
Real-time and effective communication of information is the key to proper implementation of the ITS. Therefore, the speed of data transmission from the Traffic Management Center to the TMC is the key. Traffic information is communicated through SMS, internet-connected devices or onboard features within a vehicle or on pick up and platform points.
Traveller communication
Travel Advisory Systems (TAS) are used to give updates to travelling users. Dedicated travel applications are used to send push notifications directly to the individual’s smartphones to offer real-time and up-to-date updates. The information is conveyed by various electronic devices such as highway advisory radio, variable message signs, automated calls, SMS and the internet.
Conclusion
With the tremendous growth in urbanization, the number of vehicles in the cities is also increasing. The combination of both these factors makes it challenging for cities to maintain a good traffic system for everyone to keep moving hassle-free. Intelligent Transport System offers efficient traffic safety control that ensures easy surveillance and maintenance to city authorities and comfort and safety to citizens.
