Long-term urban traffic monitoring based on wireless multi-sensor network

Abstract

Increasing the number of vehicles on the road network and the growing popularity of sustainable development of urban areas have resulted in the need for implementing efficient and cost-effective traffic measurement methods. From the perspective of traffic management, up-to-date information about vehicle density and access to historical data are the key components of traffic variability analyses. Rapid technological development based on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) has popularised the wireless sensor networks (WSN) application. The solution enables continuous monitoring of selected area using multiple wireless and low-cost sensors connected within a network. Those systems are dynamically evolving tools for solving an effective traffic management issues in city centres and urban environments. In the study, authors have performed a traffic variability and its dynamics analysis in a selected area using a multi-sensor network for traffic volume monitoring. The article presents the results of research conducted between years 2015 - 2018 throughout the city of Bielsko-Biala with the support of OnDynamic multimodal system. Within the context of the analyses, basic traffic parameters have been determined and variability trends have been identified on selected road sections. Long-term research indicated the minor variation in a number of vehicle detections and relatively stable traffic volume in the city centre during the analysis period.

Keywords

• wireless sensor networks
• data collection
• traffic volume
• traffic flow