Aid-to-decision for motorway network management : the expert system OPERA.

The expert system opera, which is to be demonstrated in the Scottish FEDICS inter-urban motorway network, has been designed for generating information and guidance message on VMS (Variable Message Sign). OPERA makes use of an on-line motorway network traffic flow simulation model for reconstruction and forecasts of traffic patterns and an on-line expert system module for strategy generation. This article describes: a) the systems architecture of opera; b) the SIMRES motorway network simulation model; c) the SELECT module; and d) the Man-Machine interface. (A)