The use of geo-location data for improved traffic management in Malta

Abstract

Congestion continues to prove to be a phenomenon and challenge on road networks worldwide. Although the tendency for the approach towards resolving the congestion problem is commonly characterised by infrastructural expansion, this may be counter-productive in the long-term. A more appropriate and effective approach to the issue is to improve traffic management practices, optimising passage through the road network by using it more intelligently. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are an intrinsic ingredient in this latter approach. Their propagation will give rise to unprecedented management and control prospects as applied to transport systems, mostly through the exploitation of data, traffic data in general and geo-location data in particular, that is adequately captured from the road network and users. The data lifecycle in an ITS that focuses on optimising traffic management operations, is explored together with the system architecture necessary for an ITS to both work and be workable. These key aspects are then exercised as part of an analytical treatment of the current local ITS deployment strategy and a number of interviews conducted with local experts In the field. The findings of the course of this research have been synthesised into four objectives for improving traffic management in Malta. The dissertation finally closes with recommendations for furthering the effort made, hoping to provide the groundwork for the proliferation of this branch of research, as an empirical basis for continued ITS deployment, and intending to optimise traffic management operations in the local context.