“Change of strategy through open data-oriented solutions” is the title of a research project on traffic management in metropolitan areas. Project coordinator is Prof. Dr. Jörg Pfister from the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen in Friedberg. The Bauhaus University Weimar, the cities of Dortmund, Frankfurt am Main and Kassel as well as the Frankfurt RheinMain region are cooperating with the THM . Other partners include Traffic Consultants (Munich), pwp-systems (Bad Camberg) and Berliner Zeitmeilen AG. The three companies are specialists in traffic information and control. The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is funding the project with around two million euros as part of the mFund research initiative. The project has a duration of three years.
Growing traffic volumes are the cause of traffic jams and slow-moving traffic, especially in large cities and conurbations. Further consequences are environmental pollution, primarily due to CO2, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. The municipalities try to control the traffic in order to keep the disturbances for road users and residents as low as possible.
There is often a lack of a reliable database and data exchange between the various actors. In the project, the partners want to create the conditions for bringing together a wide range of information, for example on the traffic situation, traffic light changes, environmental and meteorological data. On this basis, road users receive recommendations on how to behave in certain situations: for example, avoid driving, switch to public transport at the next P+R location, or choose a different route. The alternatives are disseminated via public media or individually via an app. The scientists also want to investigate the influence of an incentive system that rewards road users if they follow a recommendation. As a reward, there are bonus points that you can collect and exchange for prizes.
The partners will test the concept in four pilot projects. In Dortmund, they want to improve traffic management for games in the Bundesliga. In Frankfurt, traffic on a main access road is to be controlled according to environmental aspects - the concentration of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. Kassel is investigating how traffic can be shifted to alternative routes in the event of special occurrences such as construction sites, events or disruptions. And in the Rhine-Main region, on the one hand, a traffic information service is to be improved and, on the other hand, the effect of incentive systems is to be examined.
About the mFUND of the BMVI:
As part of the mFUND research initiative, the BMVI has been funding research and development projects relating to digital, data-based applications for Mobility 4.0 since 2016. In addition to financial support, the mFUND supports the networking between actors from politics, business and research as well as access to the data portal mCLOUD with various event formats. You can find more information at www.mfund.de.