Christian Hoetterges
Mobility - Electromobility
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A team of innovative enterprises is helping Essen to digitalize its traffic system with an eye to enabling connected, intelligent mobility in the city on the banks of the Ruhr river. Tasked to develop an AI solution for real-time traffic management based an advanced live data forecasting algorithm, ITK is playing a pivotal role in the COMO (Connected Mobility Essen) project.
The company’s brief is to deliver a smart solution to connect the various components. It is also integrating satellite data into the environmentally sensitive traffic management system. This goes to draw on additional information that will help with the decision-making. The result is a scalable data hub flexible enough to fit other smart city use cases.
Traffic jams and air pollution are on the rise as traffic grows heavier in big cities. The German city of Essen is no exception. To manage traffic more efficiently and banish the specter of potential driving bans, city hall is preparing the groundwork for a transition from manual traffic control to data-driven smart management. This is what the COMO project is all about.
It is possible to digitalize urban transport with historical and live data. This project aims to make the most of both. To this end, all conventional traffic-related data will be enhanced with data sourced from newly installed sensors – that is, smart cameras and air quality monitors – and from satellites. This will create a diversified dataset that factors a range of variables into the traffic equation, such as vehicle counts at different times of day, at different speeds and at varying turn-rates. It also includes data related to events taking place in the city and public transportation information.
What does that mean in terms of hardware? Around 50 intersections are going to be equipped with traffic detectors and 15 environmental sensors installed to monitor air quality along the Ruhrallee and the main northern access roads to downtown Essen. Two actual (rather than virtual) labs will also be set up.
The collected and aggregated historical and real-time information will enable proactive, environmentally sensitive traffic management.
It takes an intelligent traffic system to create an efficient, safe, and ecofriendly smart city. This system has to be able to access and process all the aforementioned data. That is precisely what Essen’s AI-based data and analysis platform is engineered to do. This digital traffic control center is already using real-time traffic management solutions.
Machine learning and dynamic traffic models have been combined to provide a live stream of information on the current traffic situation. ITK modules also enable live forecasting up to 60 minutes in advance. This helps traffic managers respond effectively to scheduled and unforeseen events.
ITK’s contribution to the project is a big part of this responsiveness: The company developed the AI precisely for this purpose – to source data from across the city and make specific forecasts for the given measuring points. This AI can analyze and cluster data patterns to steadily optimize the management strategy. Multi-criteria optimization enables new strategies to be identified based on individual parameters, including current traffic management strategies, for example, to proactively recommend traffic signal clearance intervals. These models and modules also serve to predict and simulate traffic. Smart traffic management is about to become a reality in Essen, Germany.
ITK’s AI modules are based on self-learning, high-performance algorithms designed to identify Pareto-optimal actions in an efficient, resource-sparing way.
This project marks a milestone on Essen’s journey towards sustainable and digital mobility within the framework of climate and health initiatives. The aim is to continue making roads safer and to manage traffic flow more efficiently. This will help us to reduce emissions of air pollutants and steer mobility in a more sustainable direction over the short to medium term.
Simone Raskob, head of the city Essen’s department for environment, transport and sport
PTV Optima is a traffic management software solution developed by PTV Group, a participating partner in this project. It serves to predict and automatically optimize traffic flows and discover previously undetected relationships and patterns. The AI always has access to the latest data and can propose solutions to optimize traffic before conditions take a turn for the worse.
By helping to reduce fuel consumption and optimize traffic flows to curb pollution and improve air quality, this solution is doing its part to turn the tide towards more sustainable transportation.
AI-based live information and intelligent traffic optimization is no longer a vision for the distant future. It is everyday reality in Germany.
The city of Essen is adopting ITK’s AI modules on its way to becoming a smart city. This approach readily adapts to suit other cities. What’s more, it opens the door to a wide range of optimization possibilities. Looking for help tackling data-based management challenges? Your search ends with our predictive algorithm. It generates real-time recommendations to help you handle traffic, ports, and peak loads in grids. This is your gateway to new solution spaces for all kinds of data sources. Cameras, vehicles, sensors – anything goes.
Do you wish to make the most of artificial intelligence for your smart city? Or do you want to use intelligent AI modules to take advantage of your live data from other sources?
Then be sure to get in touch with our team. Count on us to help you rise to your challenges whatever they may entail.
