By Maxwell Pereira
T raffic congestion on national highway is fast becoming the norm rather than an occasional inconvenience. The world over, there is a shift to providing timely and reliable information within the confines of the existing infrastructure. The 'Intelligent Transport Systems' (ITS) takes the first step towards meeting this challenge by providing timely, effective, reliable and meaningful knowledge to motorists. It includes electronic toll collection systems, vehicle and driver status warning, control and collision avoidance systems, increased efficiency for commercial vehicle transport, crisis management etc.
Problems like high traffic congestion, low transportation efficiency, high mobility, low safety and endangered environment. Some of these problems can be solved through innovative and sophisticated ways of handling voluminous database and the use of latest techniques that have emerged in recent years in integrating information technology, electronics and telecommunication with roads and traffic management.
Road Information Systems that should become a part of national highway for safe transportation of motorists are:
A. Incident detection
There are major corridors where traffic flows are very heavy. Any small incident obstructs the flow, resulting in huge losses in terms of fuel and time. Consequently, conducting surveillance on corridors and identifying incidents causing problems can be useful in saving economic losses. Surveillance systems are based on electronically operated cameras or loop detectors embedded in pavements.
B. Advanced traveler Information
Advanced traveller information systems (ATIS), a part of new technology applications in transportation, provide accurate and timely information that help travellers to select routes, times of travel and travel modes. They work even better with inclusion of geographic tourist guides and yellow pages that enable travellers to select destinations based on proximity to other places.
C. Electronic toll collection
ETC is based on vehicle roadside communication system; more precisely, it is an application of electronic signature detection to passenger and commercial vehicle traffic for the purpose of collecting tolls.
D. Axle load monitoring
Studies have also indicated that the damage caused by axle-load exceeding the permissible limits is much more than the damage caused by the rest of the traffic combined on national highways. Hence it is essential to keep these loads under check, with continuous and real-time monitoring to save them and impose penalties on defaulters. There are intelligent systems, such as weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems that monitor the weight of vehicles in motion.
E. Blind corner monitoring
At T-junctions and other blind intersections on national highways, this enables the driver to see whether traffic is approaching from either direction.
F. Automated driving
Vehicle-mounted sensors are used to judge the vehicle's position by visual data on the lane marking. It then uses this information to steer the vehicle. The system keeps the vehicle in the same lane provided it senses no obstacles in the road ahead. If it detects a slow-moving vehicle ahead, it directs the vehicle to change lanes, provided the way is clear. Once it has overtaken the obstacle, the systems returns the vehicle to the original lane. If the next lane is occupied, the system slows the vehicle to maintain a safe braking distance. If a vehicle ahead has come to a stop, the vehicle is smoothly brought to a stop.
© copyright : Maxwell Pereira
Courtesy Mid Day, dated November 20, 2002
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