The German broadcasting station (WDR) uses the detection and reconstruction of spatiotemporal congested traffic patterns with the models ASDA and FOTO based on Kerner's Three-Phase traffic theory as the basis of traveller information. The traffic data is derived from highways in North Rhine-Westfalia where stationary detectors are deployed at intervals of one minute. These traffic patterns can be suitable both as a basis for the production and control of existing RDS/TMC messages, which are distributed by a radio broadcasting station such as WDR to both radio listeners and RDS/TMC receivers in vehicles. The paper briefly discusses the theoretical and technical background of the models ASDA and FOTO as well as the results, which could be obtained until now in the on-line operation in North Rhine-Westfalia at WDR in Cologne. Advantages for RDS/TMC traffic message generation with ASDA and FOTO are as follows: (i) congested traffic reconstruction and prediction between detector stations, ie, when traffic congestion cannot be measured, (ii) errors of RDS/TMC messages associated with faulty or missing incoming traffic data are automatically improved through ASDA and FOTO modelling, (iii) high quality performance of ASDA/FOTO and therefore of RDS/TMC messages are realized in any infrastructure, weather and other environmental scenarios; this is because ASDA and FOTO do not require any validation of model parameters: the model parameters are automatically adapted based on measured traffic data. (Secondary source).
Abstract