Transport Traffic Management: Challenges And Solutions

Advanced Traffic Management System

Question:

Discuss about the Transport Traffic Management System.

The transport traffic management is the intrigued part of the government logistic management where a logical system of communication, technology and man management has been implemented for the smooth moving of vehicles on road. A systematic planning, management and implementation on daily basis are needed for the transport traffic management system. A traffic management plan is essential for formulating the traffic management system on area specific vehicle concentration, the importance of the area and parking management including maintenance and design. A daily basis data need to be collected for implementation of the area specific traffic plan. A traffic control system and surveillance is an integral part of the traffic control and implementation system.  In urban traffic control system, the authority needs to address many challengeswhile implementing traffic management system which is a major portion of the discussion. A complex network of roadways, general public accumulation and vehicle concentration are major factors for addressing traffic management challenges. In this discussion, traffic management problems andprevious research work for implementing urban traffic control system have been mention in the literature review. National road transport commission has developed road traffic legislations like road traffic act 1961 and some new incorporation also has in been done and an updated traffic rule has been implemented in 2013.

The complexity and traffic management system issues depend upon the magnitude of the city and provinces across Australia. Population concentration and vehicle versus population ratio in a specific areacontributes to the challenges for traffic management system (Aminiet al. 2016, p.187).  Some ofthe important urban transport problems in Australia are:

• Traffic congestion and parking difficulties:traffic congestion is induced in urban traffic system due to the vehicle concentration and available space for parking. The present urban infrastructure could not accommodate the growing vehicle pressure and henceforth a growing traffic congestion in urban areas. The frequency of commercial areas and highly populated areas are few major issues for implementing the traffic management system. Availability of the parking space and vehicle accommodation for the longer period is another reason for traffic congestion. The present parking infrastructure could not accommodate a huge number of parking demand in urban areas (White, 2016, p.32).
• Inadequate public transport: The public transit system is not sufficiently available with the growing pressure of commuters in busy hours. Therefore a degree of discomfort and an uncomfortable situation arises from the public transit system. Many regular public transport commuters are choosing another mode of transportation which incurs financial instability in public transport agencies which are the major reason for infrastructure failure. Though there are huge government aid and support to these public transit agencies, a notable failure of these public transit system could be observed. These agencies even failed to collect periodic operating and capital cost (Djahel et 2015, p.127).
• Loss of public space: The concentration of publicly owned areas in the urban infrastructure induces challenges in implementing traffic management system. The growing commercial spaces like market areas, restaurants, shops are reducing the area for vehicle movement. Apart from commercial activity general public interactions like games, parade, political demonstrations and major social events will cause transport hindrance and henceforth traffic congestion. Smooth traffic movement helps to maintain public interaction and commercial activity (Schneider et 2017, p.70).
• High maintenance cost: the urban infrastructure with its age factor incurs more maintenance costfor transport management system (Schneider et 2017, p. 70). With the growing vehicle pressure, the infrastructure is also needed to be updated. The total cost of updating and maintaining getting higher day by day. Any delay in maintenance could induce traffic congestion hence failure in traffic management system. Extensive and complex roadways network at any section of the city could induce more maintain ace cost (Buchanan, 2015, p.31).
• Environmental impact and energy consumption:population, creating noise pollution and air pollution could affect the urban life including the health of the general population. Energy consumption by urban transport has been increased significantly.The increasing environmental factors and energy consumption induces more mobility expectation which in turn increases the pressure on traffic management system (Enoch, 2016, p.69).
• Longer commuting: the major portion of the time people spend on commuting from different commercial facilities and home. Due to the location of the remote establishment of the home as with increasing financial pressure, people tend to establish their home outside the town, the average commute time has increased (Litman, 2015, p.513).
• Accident and safety: In developing countries, with the increasing number of traffic network and vehicles, the number of accidents and mishaps also increased. Accident incurs delay and obstruction in traffic system (Rimmer, 2013, p.87).

Sub-problem:

• Underpricing and consumer choice: Due to the excessive usage of roads and public transport system and lack of maintenance, the roadway infrastructure condition is getting worse. A free roadway and partially bearing the cost of the vehicle, the over usage indirectly affecting the traffic management system (Elhamodet al. 2013, p.53).
• Planning and investment practice: the distribution of public fund for ensuring the effective implementation of traffic management system is needed. Lack of transportation alternatives could incur congestion in urban roadway network (Zhou et al. 2015, p.131).

Advanced traffic management system (ATMS):

this traffic management system responsibility is distributed into differentmanagement hierarchy to improve the flow of vehicle in the complex network of roadways in urban areas.  Real-time data has been collected from different sources like installed cameras, speed sensors will help ATMS to analyse the traffic condition and improvisations necessary for the smooth movement of the vehicles in the pressure situation. A transport management centre has been formed for the functionality of the advanced traffic management system.  The predominant goals have been formulated by ATMSfor increasing efficiency of the advanced traffic management system, to increase mobility and safety, controlling environmental factors like less fuel consumption and gas emission (Wang et al. 2015, p.101).

Intelligent transportation system:

According to the ordinance of European Union 2010/40/EU,  the intelligent transport system is defined as the application of information system management and communication technological support.A complex network of infrastructure,vehicles and users has been formed for the implementation of the traffic management system in urban areas for vehicle mobility and road safety.  The intelligent transport system is comprised of traffic signal controlling system,  satellite navigation system for live update of the current traffic situation. Automatic number plate detection system and cameras have been installed for the controlling the speed of the vehicles is an integral part of the traffic management system (Osorio et al. 2015, p.641).

Traffic management plan:

Intelligent Transportation System

Anarea specific planning is necessary for the movement of the vehicles in urban roadways network.  The traffic management plan comprises the design of the complex network of roadways, implementation of the plan and maintenance.  The temporary congestion removal using manually and intelligent traffic control system is also a part of the traffic management plan. According to this plan,vehicles, cyclists and the general population on street have been directed towards their desired destination using intelligent signalling system, satellite navigation system, on road displays and LEDs. Urban parking management is also a part of the traffic management plan (Hollnagel, 2014, p.73).

Parking management system:

It is an integral part of the modern traffic management system in urban areas all over the world.  It is a mechanical parking system installed in commercial parking areas and urban areas where less space is available for the parking facility. There are two types of car parking system that is mechanical and traditional. Mechanical car parking system is more cost effective than traditional card parking system. It also saves the car parking area.  High capacity hydrologic systems are used for lifting cars to its desired position. This car parking system is cost effective as it takes less area and volume for parking (Hollnagel, 2014, p.73).

Traffic signal management and control system

It is defined as the software controlled signalling system in four road crossing in urban areas.  There is a fixed set of algorithms for maintaining the four-way traffic in regular interval. It has been designed on the basis of collected data on daily basis and fixed set of algorithms has been implemented for controlling the signals differently in the different section of the day.  The signalling system is has been designed for different traffic pressures and could be modified during traffic congestion. The whole system allows the smooth movement of the traffic during all time intervals of the day (Rautet al.2016, p.117).

Road Transport act 1999:

Objective: 

This act is implemented for road safety and traffic management for providing uniform road transport system in urban Australian provinces (Swanston et al. 2014, p.93)

This act is the modification of the previously acting road transport act for road safety and uniform transportation mobility all over Australian roadways (Chang et al.2013, p.460).

1. This act is implemented for enhancing safety measures in roadways of Australia.
2. This act is diminishing the implementation cost of traffic management system.

This act is applicable for the commuters and roadways users in New South Wales and empowering the authority to issue licences in this province under the parliamentary regulation (Barfield et al. 2014, p.93).

Traffic act 1909

Under this act, there are some amendments and new regulations are implemented for road safety and traffic management.  Under this act, camera detection device has been approved for taking pictures of the number plate of the vehicle by on-duty traffic personnel whereas camera recording devices are also been approved for recording speeding vehicle (Young et al.2015, p.357). Speed measuring device is approved for recording speeding vehicles on roadways and controlling the vehicles birching safety measures on road.  Breath analysis instruments are also approved for preventing drunk driving on the roadway network in the provinces. According to the Traffic act 1909, driving licence means which in proposed in road transport act 1998 that is Driving Licence act 1998 (Rahnamaeiet al. 2015,p.88).

Traffic Management Plan

Driving Licence act 1998

This act is implemented for proving driving licence and authorising the driver for using roadways under Australian provinces monitored under parliamentary governance. The main objectives of driving licence act is

1. To establish the driving licence system in Australian province
2. This act is enacted for assigning on road responsibilities for road safety and regulations.
3. Driving licence act 1998 has been provided with a tool for identifying the person on road as the driving licence holder.

It is also established a fixed set of safety standards on road for drivers (Al-Kharusiet al. 2014, p.1015).

National Road Transport Commission

It is defined as the independent body for establishing commonwealth road transport legislations. It has been formed by the agreement for establishing roadways passages between governments formed under commonwealth.   The national road transport commission is working on the agreement for operating in nine jurisdictions in Australian province. This commission is implemented for improving transport productivity and safety in the nine Australian provinces. Another concern for the implementation of the law is reducing air pollution due to carbon emission in commonwealth regions (Sundaret al. 2015, p.1113).

In the 21^st century, the major problem in urban development is the population explosion. Theusual concentration of general population on road has been increased significantly. With the increase in population and easy availability and increasing affordability, the concentration of vehicles also has been increased. Backdated traffic management system could not hold the pressure of the everyday pedestrian and vehicles including commercial and domestic. While implementing the urban development planning there are some major issues could be seen for maintaining functionality of the roadways and hence the functionality of the cities. There are some major challenges has been emerged while implementing the urban development plan (Buchanan, 2015, p.31). These problems are increasing traffic and parking issues around central areas of the cities and especially in commercial areas. There has been inadequate public transport facility in the major cities as the public transport system has been updated along with the increasing general populations. As a consequence, commuters losing interest on public transport facility for increasing pressure and discomfort. Hence the transport system is running under heavy loss though a significant subsidy has been provided by the governments. The transport system needs to be updated to contemporary standards and facilities for attracting commuters and initiative should be taken for reviving the public transport system. The public space around the cities has been decreasing as shops, commercial areas are taking over free spaces in urban areas. As a result, the concentration of general population that is pedestrians and cyclists has been increased on road. This also incurs the traffic congestion and loss of traffic mobility in the busy period of time. Government agencies need to plan for increasing public space for addressing traffic congestion and restoring mobility in urban areas. There has been a major concern of greenhouse gases as with the increasing vehicle concentration, theemission of gases also has beenincreased. Environmental issues also need to be addressed for the urban development execution.another major challenge for government transport agencies is to address the maintenancecost for the urban transport system (Litman, 2015, p. 513). For accommodating the increasing number of population and vehicles the urban transport system and traffic management system need to update in the regular interval which is itself a major cost along with maintenance. There has been a modern approach to resolving these challenges while implementing the urban transport system such as Advanced traffic management system, Intelligent transportation system, Traffic management plan and Traffic signal management and control system. As the number of commercial areas has been increased in the urban cities, the parking problem is been a major issue in traffic management system. Modern technologically updated hydraulic parking system has been implemented for addressing the parking issue which saves the parking area and building space.  There has been much legislation incorporated regarding the safety and regulation of the transport management system in Commonwealthas well as Australian provinces such as Road Transport act 1999, Traffic act 1909 and Driving Licence act 1998 for on road safety and regulation. Driving licencing has been done for on road commuters for identification and controlling the computers to prevent breaking laws. These acts and systematic traffic management system help to evolve a modern traffic management scenario for urban development (Osorio et al. 2015, p.641).

Parking Management System

Conclusion

It has been concluded from above discussion is that the traffic management system is an integral part of the urban development system.  With increasing population explosion, urban development and planning are the significant challenges for government’sworldwide. A great necessity for developing roadways networking in urban development has been in great demand. From the discussion, it could be seen that many challenges have been developed for implementing urban development system. A traffic management system needs to be incorporated as a part of the urban development systemfor the encountering the challenges. Traffic congestion and lack of public transport are the major problems for implementing traffic management system. A systematic traffic control and signal control system could be the solution for traffic congestion. There aremany significantlegislations have been developed for Commonwealth and Australia province for addressing major issues while implementing the traffic management system. These legislations are helpful for implementing roadways regulation and safety measures whereas driving licence legislation help to identify the people on road and manage. Hence A modern traffic management system comprises of intelligent traffic control system, the network of roadways and significantly developed roadways safety acts and regulation acts for controlling and maintaining the urban population for smooth movement of the vehicles. The well-knitted traffic management system helps to build an area specific economy in developed countries.

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