The European FRONTIER project, coordinated by the Eurecat technology centre, has developed a smart collaborative platform to optimise communication between transport stakeholders to reduce traffic congestion, predict incidents and help make management decisions.
The platform, called ANTME (Autonomous Network and Traffic Management Engine), optimises traffic control by monitoring incidents such as road works or collisions and supports coordination across different modes of transport including autonomous vehicles.
“By improving situational awareness in the entire transport network, the platform allows operators to predict problems, spot road incidents and generate response plans to resolve them by leveraging real-time traffic analysis data which support decisions made in transport operations,” says Pol Torres, a researcher in the Applied Artificial Intelligence Unit.
“End-to-end management of multimodal networks and traffic plays a key role in addressing transport-related risks and challenges and ensuring its efficiency and resilience,” notes Fanny Breuil, coordinator of the project and head of Eurecat’s European Project Coordination Unit.
“The ANTME platform is a technological solution which makes it possible to rationalise the challenges posed by traffic congestion since it can recommend action plans and suggest immediate solutions to help transport managers and operators cope with traffic issues.”
This smart system developed as part of the FRONTIER project includes visual dashboards for traffic managers, a mobile app to update travellers about incidents in real time, a response plan generator for operators and smart services which predict traffic and spot incidents in the transport network. Travellers can also use the mobile app to report incidents or events which will subsequently be verified by system operators through the ANTME platform.
The ANTME platform thus provides up-to-date maps and data to offer a real-time snapshot of the traffic situation to European mobility system stakeholders while enabling communication, rapid information exchange and collaboration between them.
“The pilot tests conducted with the platform and the digital tools rolled out have demonstrated ANTME’s efficiency in enhancing traffic management strategies coupled with the benefits it delivers for travellers and the transport industry in terms of cutting emissions and reducing congestion, traffic jams and accidents,” points out Xavier Domingo, director of the Applied Artificial Intelligence Unit at Eurecat.
Validation of the platform in the UK, Greece and Belgium
The system has been validated in three scenarios in the UK, Greece and Belgium. In Oxfordshire, UK, the integration of connected and autonomous vehicles into traffic management and control systems has been tested along with a mobile app to help travellers avoid incidents which might affect their commute to work.
In Athens, Greece, the platform has been used on the motorway connecting the city centre to the airport to support multimodal transport management and better cooperation between operators.
Finally, in Antwerp, Belgium, the smart system has shown its ability to streamline coordination between road and waterway transport to improve supply chains and freight logistics.
The FRONTIER project has a consortium made up of five universities and research centres in Eurecat, the project coordinator, University of Antwerp, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, University of Wolverhampton and Technical University of Crete; seven businesses in Frontier Innovations, MOBY X Software Limited, Aimsun, Netcompany-Intrasoft, Preston EV Limited-StreetDrone, TagMaster and Arcadis-IBI Group; five transport authorities in three European countries, namely De Vlaamse Waterberg, Athens Urban Transport Organisation, Oxfordshire County Council, Elliniko Metro and Attikes Diadromes; the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and the International Road Federation.
