Transit Vehicles as Traffic Probe Sensors

Abstract

New algorithms are presented that use transit vehicles as probes for determining traffic speeds and travel times along freeways and other primary arterials. A mass transit tracking system based on automatic vehicle location data and a Kalman filter used to estimate vehicle position and speed are described. A system of virtual probe sensors that measure transit vehicle speeds by using the track data is also described. Examples showing the correlation between probe data and inductance loop speed-trap data are presented. Also presented is a method that uses probe sensor data to define vehicle speed along an arbitrary roadway as a function of space and time, a speed function. This speed function is used to estimate travel time given an arbitrary starting time. Finally, a graphical application is introduced for viewing real-time speed measurements from a set of virtual sensors that can be located throughout King County, Washington, on arterials and freeways.

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