Towards greener traffic flow in the South Baltic Region (SBR): a data-driven approach to the congestion problem | Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Gdańsk University of Technology

The challenge. Congestion is a problem of many metropolitan areas. Increasing severity and duration of traffic jams lead to delays, increased fuel consumption, increased stress of road users, air quality degradation and increased risk of road incidents. The way to mitigate the impact is to efficiently manage traffic flow on roadways. The methods to detect and recognise congestion events and assess its impacts are of particular importance, but requires large amounts of data, novel data analysis methods, understanding traffic patterns or getting insight into the affecting factors.

The GreenerFlow project. The goal of the project is to build a cross-border interdisciplinary cooperation that will work together to develop data-driven and AI-based methods for congestion detection and impact assessment. Integrated into and toolbox, the developed methods will support cities in better road traffic management in the SBR.

Our approach is data driven. We gather, analyse, and interpret data from different sources – probe vehicles, telecom operators, traffic counters, cameras, and more – to holistically understand the factors influencing traffic congestion and its effect. With this knowledge, we identify primary contributors to congestion, measure and ascertain its impact on urban mobility, including traffic conditions, the environment, society, and road safety. This data-backed approach equips us with the knowledge that can be further used to devise and recommend effective solutions for mitigating congestion and its implications. The project directly addresses several sustainable development goals, including Sustainable Cities and Communities (#11), Climate Action (#13), and Responsible Consumption and Production (#12).

Within the seed money project, we build an interdisciplinary cooperation between partners from different sectors (transport, environment, big data & AI methods, traffic psychology, road safety) and create a plan for common research and future project implementation. The potential partners and parties interested in congestion research are invited to join us at our workshop on August 10^th-11^th, 2023 in Gdansk, Poland (please contact aleksandra.romanowska@pg.edu.pl to participate), to commonly discuss current challenges and how these can be addressed with future research and projects.

What are the potential benefits for the SBR? Improving traffic flow efficiency is not merely beneficial; it's essential for the environmental and societal well-being of the SBR. By building on past successes and innovatively addressing current challenges, this project presents a timely opportunity to create a more sustainable and harmonious transportation landscape in the region.

Our track record. We are a consortium of two organisations: Gdansk University of Technology (Gdansk Tech) with a strong background and experience in traffic flow analysis, modelling and road safety research, and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB with expertise in big data analysis and incorporating AI methods into the traffic data research. We have a successful history of projects focused on sustainable urban development, traffic modelling and road safety (i.e., ROADVIEW, TENS CIVITAS DYN@MO, H2020 FLOW).

Why to join? We are looking for partners from South Baltic Region (see https://southbaltic.eu/eligible-area) to apply with our project to Interreg South Baltic Programme 2021-2027 (What is Interreg South Baltic Programme 2021-2027 - Interreg South Baltic

Joint research is crucial in the development of state-of-the-art methods and for successful project implementation in the SBR countries. The partners will contribute to and benefit from the initiative by working in a multidisciplinary team (with expertise in traffic flow, road safety, big data, traffic psychology and environment, city authorities, data providers) on high-quality data to achieve the common goal that is better SBR environment.

Project period:

May 2023 – August 2023

Financiers:

Project area: Improving cross-border connectivity for a functional blue and green transport area
Project scope: South Baltic area

Project partners: Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) and Gdansk University of Technology (GUT)
Project budget: 40.000 EUR

Co-financing rate 75% (RISE), 85% (GUT)