Proactive Assessment of Accident Risk to Improve Safety on a System of Freeways, Research Report 11-15

This report describes the development and evaluation of real-time crash risk-assessment models for four freeway corridors: U.S. Route 101 NB (northbound) and SB (southbound) and Interstate 880 NB and SB. Crash data for these freeway segments for the 16-month period from January 2010 through April 2011 are used to link historical crash occurrences with real-time traffic patterns observed through loop-detector data. \u27The crash risk-assessment models are based on a binary classification approach (crash and non-crash outcomes), with traffic parameters measured at surrounding vehicle detection station (VDS) locations as the independent variables. The analysis techniques used in this study are logistic regression and classification trees. Prior to developing the models, some data-related issues such as data cleaning and aggregation were addressed. The modeling efforts revealed that the turbulence resulting from speed variation is significantly associated with crash risk on the U.S. 101 NB corridor. The models estimated with data from U.S. 101 NB were evaluated on the basis of their classification performance, not only on U.S. 101 NB, but also on the other three freeway segments for transferability assessment. It was found that the predictive model derived from one freeway can be readily applied to other freeways, although the classification performance decreases. The models that transfer best to other roadways were determined to be those that use the least number of VDSs–that is, those that use one upstream or downstream station rather than two or three.\ The classification accuracy of the models is discussed in terms of how the models can be used for real-time crash risk assessment. The models can be applied to developing and testing variable speed limits (VSLs) and ramp-metering strategies that proactively attempt to reduce crash risk

Traffic incident duration prediction via a deep learning framework for text description encoding

Predicting the traffic incident duration is a hard problem to solve due to the stochastic nature of incident occurrence in space and time, a lack of information at the beginning of a reported traffic disruption, and lack of advanced methods in transport engineering to derive insights from past accidents. This paper proposes a new fusion framework for predicting the incident duration from limited information by using an integration of machine learning with traffic flow/speed and incident description as features, encoded via several Deep Learning methods (ANN autoencoder and character-level LSTM-ANN sentiment classifier). The paper constructs a cross-disciplinary modelling approach in transport and data science. The approach improves the incident duration prediction accuracy over the top-performing ML models applied to baseline incident reports. Results show that our proposed method can improve the accuracy by $60\%$ when compared to standard linear or support vector regression models, and a further $7\%$ improvement with respect to the hybrid deep learning auto-encoded GBDT model which seems to outperform all other models. The application area is the city of San Francisco, rich in both traffic incident logs (Countrywide Traffic Accident Data set) and past historical traffic congestion information (5-minute precision measurements from Caltrans Performance Measurement System)

ViewMap: Sharing Private In-Vehicle Dashcam Videos

Today, search for dashcam video evidences is conducted manually and its procedure does not guarantee privacy. In this paper, we motivate, design, and implement ViewMap, an automated public service system that enables sharing of private dashcam videos under anonymity. ViewMap takes a profile-based approach where each video is represented in a compact form called a view profile (VP), and the anonymized VPs are treated as entities for search, verification, and reward instead of their owners. ViewMap exploits the line-of-sight (LOS) properties of dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) such that each vehicle makes VP links with nearby ones that share the same sight while driving. ViewMap uses such LOS-based VP links to build a map of visibility around a given incident, and identifies VPs whose videos are worth reviewing. Original videos are never transmitted unless they are verified to be taken near the incident and anonymously solicited. ViewMap offers untraceable rewards for the provision of videos whose owners remain anonymous. We demonstrate the feasibility of ViewMap via field experiments on real roads using our DSRC testbeds and trace-driven simulations.We sincerely thank our shepherd Dr. Ranveer Chandra and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback. This work was supported by Samsung Research Funding Center for Future Technology under Project Number SRFC-IT1402-01

Towards Universality in Automatic Freeway Incident Detection: A Calibration-Free Algorithm

Freeway automatic incident detection (AID) algorithms have been extensively investigated over the last forty years. A myriad of algorithms, covering a broad range of types in terms of complexity, data requirements, and efficiency have been published in the literature. However, a 2007 nationwide survey concluded that the implementation of AID algorithms in traffic management centers is still very limited. There are a few reasons for this discrepancy between the state-of-the-art and the state-of the-practice. First, current AID algorithms yield unacceptably high rates of false alarm when implemented in real-world. Second, the complexities involved in algorithm calibration require levels of efforts and diligence that may overburden Traffic Management Center (TMC) personnel. The main objective of this research was to develop a self-learning, transferable algorithm that requires no calibration. The dynamic thresholds of the proposed algorithm are based on historical data of traffic, thus accounting for variations of traffic throughout the day. Therefore, the novel approach is able to recognize recurrent congestion, thus greatly reducing the incidence of false alarms. In addition, the proposed method requires no human-intervention, which certainly encourages its implementation. The presented model was evaluated in a newly developed incident database, which contained forty incidents. The model performed better than the California, Minnesota, and Standard Normal Deviation algorithms

베이지안 네트워크를 활용한 교통상태의 확률론적 예측

학위논문 (박사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 공과대학 건설환경공학부, 2017. 8. 고승영.Traffic state prediction is an important issue in traffic operations. One of the main purposes of traffic operations is to prevent flow breakdown. Therefore, it is necessary to perform traffic state predictions that reflects the stochastic process of traffic flow. However, traffic state transition is affected complexly and simultaneously by many factors, which lead to a lack of understanding and accurate prediction. Meanwhile, the Bayesian network is a methodology that not only is suitable for a problem with uncertainty but also can improve the understanding of a problem. Also, it is possible to derive fair probability with incomplete information, which allows the analysis of various situations. In this study, we developed a traffic state prediction model using the Bayesian network to reflect dynamic and stochastic traffic flow characteristics. In order to improve the structure of the Bayesian network, which has been used simply in transportation problems, we proposed a modeling procedure using mixture of Gaussians (MOGs). Also, spatially extended variables were used to consider the spatiotemporal evolution of traffic flow pattern. In particular, traffic state identification was performed by estimating the link speed in order to consider the spatial propagation of congestion. In the performance evaluation, the Bayesian network has better performance than logistic regression and has the same level of performance as artificial neural network based on machine learning. Also, by performing sensitivity analyses, we provided the understanding of traffic state prediction and the guidelines for model improvement. Therefore, the Bayesian network developed in this study can be considered as a traffic state prediction model with good prediction accuracy and provides insights for traffic state prediction.Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Research background and purpose 1 1.2 Research scope and procedure 4 Chapter 2. Literature Review 8 2.1 Characteristics of traffic state 8 2.2 Traffic state estimation and prediction 14 2.3 Bayesian network 37 2.4 Originality of this research 41 Chapter 3. Data Collection and Preparation 46 3.1 Data collection and validity check 46 3.2 Traffic state identification 47 3.3 Data Description 63 Chapter 4. Bayesian Network Modeling 66 4.1 Modeling procedure 66 4.2 Description of interface mechanism 69 4.3 Module design 74 4.4 Eliciting the structure 81 4.5 Verification 81 4.6 Parameter learning 85 Chapter 5. Model Evaluation 87 5.1 Evaluation results 87 5.2 Comparison with other methodologies 92 5.3 Sensitivity analysis 104 Chapter 6. Conclusions 127 6.1 Summary 127 6.2 Guidelines for traffic state prediction 128 6.3 Limitations of the study 129 6.4 Applications and future research 130 References 135Docto

Interpretable Machine Learning을 활용한 구간단속시스템 설치에 따른 인명피해사고 감소 효과 연구

학위논문 (박사) -- 서울대학교 대학원 : 공과대학 건설환경공학부, 2020. 8. 김동규.In this study, a prediction model for casualty crash occurrence was developed considering whether to install SSES and the effect of SSES installation was quantified by dividing it into direct and indirect effects through the analysis of mediation effect. Also, it was recommended what needs to be considered in selecting the candidate sites for SSES installation. For this, crash prediction model was developed by using the machine learning for binary classification based on whether or not casualty crash occurred and the effects of SSES installation were analyzed based on crashes and speed-related variables. Especially, the IML methodology was applied that considered the predictive performance as well as the interpretability of the forecast results as important. When developing the IML which consisted of black-box and interpretable model, KNN, RF, and SVM were reviewed as black-box model, and DT and BLR were reviewed as interpretable model. In the model development, the hyper-parameters that could be set in each methodology were optimized through k-fold cross validation. The SVM with a polynomial kernel trick was selected as black-box model and the BLR was selected as interpretable model to predict the probability of casualty crash occurrence. For the developed IML model, the evaluation was conducted through comparison with the typical BLR from the perspective of the PDR framework. The evaluation confirmed that the results of the IML were more excellent than the typical BLR in terms of predictive accuracy, descriptive accuracy, and relevancy from a human in the loop. Using the result of IML's model development, the effect on SSES installation were quantified based on the probability equation of casualty crash occurrence. The equation is the logistic function that consists of SSES, SOR, SV, TVL, HVR, and CR. The result of analysis confirmed that the SSES installation reduced the probability of casualty crash occurrence by about 28%. In addition, the analysis of mediation effects on the variables affected by installing SSES was conducted to quantify the direct and indirect effects on the probability of reducing the casualty crashes caused by the SSES installation. The proportion of indirect effects through reducing the ratio of exceeding the speed limit (SOR) was about 30% and the proportion of indirect effects through reduction of speed variance (SV) was not statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. Finally, the probability equation of casualty crash occurrence developed in this study was applied to the sections of Yeongdong Expressway to compare the crash risk section with the actual crash data to examine the applicability of the development model. The analysis result verified that the equation was reasonable. Therefore, it may be considered to select dangerous sites based on casualty crash and speeding firstly, and then to install SSES at the section where traffic volume (TVL), heavy vehicle ratio (HVR), and curve ratio (CR) are higher than the other sections.본 연구에서는 구간단속시스템(Section Speed Enforcement System, SSES) 설치 효과를 정량화하기 위해 인명피해사고 예측모형을 개발하고, 매개효과 분석을 통해 SSES 설치에 대한 직접효과와 간접효과를 구분하여 정량화하였다. 또한, 개발한 예측모형에 대한 고속도로에서의 적용 가능성을 검토하고, SSES 설치 대상지 선정 시 고려해야할 사항을 제안하였다. 모형 개발에는 인명피해사고 발생 여부를 종속변수로 하는 이진분류형 기계학습을 활용하였으며, 기계학습 중에서는 모형의 예측 성능과 더불어 예측 결과에 대한 해석력을 중요하게 고려하는 인터프리터블 머신 러닝(Interpretable Machine Learning, IML) 방법론을 적용하였다. IML은 블랙박스 모델과 인터프리터블 모델로 구성되며, 본 연구에서는 블랙박스 모델로 KNN, RF 및 SVM을, 인터프리터블 모델로 DT와 BLR을 검토하였다. 모형 개발 시에는 각 기법에서 튜닝이 가능한 하이퍼 파라미터에 대하여 교차검증 과정을 거쳐 최적화하였다. 블랙박스 모델은 폴리노미얼 커널 트릭을 활용한 SVM을, 인터프리터블 모델은 BLR을 적용하여 인명피해사고 발생 확률을 예측하는 모형을 개발하였다. 개발된 IML 모델에 대해서는 PDR(Predictive accuracy, Descriptive accuracy and Relevancy) 프레임워크 관점에서 (typical) BLR 모델과 비교 평가를 진행하였다. 평가 결과 예측 정확도, 해석 정확도 및 인간의 이해관점에서의 적합성 등에서 모두 IML 모델이 우수함을 확인하였다. 또한, 본 연구에서 개발된 IML 모델 기반의 인명피해사고 발생 확률식은 SSES, SOR, SV, TVL, HVR 및 CR의 독립변수로 구성되었으며, 이 확률식을 기반으로 SSES 설치에 대한 효과를 정량화하였다. 정량화 분석 결과, SSES 설치로 인해 약 28% 정도의 인명피해사고 발생 확률이 감소함을 확인할 수 있었다. 또한, 모형 개발에 활용된 변수 중 SSES 설치로 인해 영향을 받는 변수들(SOR 및 SV)에 대한 매개효과 분석을 통해 SSES 설치로 인한 인명피해사고 감소 확률을 직접효과와 간접효과를 구분하여 제시하였다. 분석 결과, SSES와 제한속도 초과비율(SOR)의 관계에서 있어서는 약 30%가 간접효과이고, SSES와 속도분산(SV)의 관계에 있어서는 매개효과가 통계적으로 유의하지 않음을 확인할 수 있었다. 마지막으로 영동고속도로를 대상으로 인명피해사고 발생 확률식 기반의 예측 위험구간과 실제 인명사고 다발 구간에 대한 비교 분석을 통해 연구 결과의 활용 가능성을 확인하였다. 또한, SSES 설치 대상지 선정 시에는 사고 및 속도 분석을 통한 위험구간을 선별한 후 교통량(TVL)이 많은 곳, 통과차량 중 중차량 비율(HVR)이 높은 곳 및 구간 내 곡선비율(CR)이 높은 곳을 우선적으로 검토하는 것을 제안하였다.1. Introduction 1 1.1. Background of research 1 1.2. Objective of research 4 1.3. Research Flow 6 2. Literature Review 11 2.1. Research related to SSES 11 2.1.1. Effectiveness of SSES 11 2.1.2. Installation criteria of SSES 15 2.2. Machine learning about transportation 17 2.2.1. Machine learning algorithm 17 2.2.2. Machine learning algorithm about transportation 19 2.3. Crash prediction model 23 2.3.1. Frequency of crashes 23 2.3.2. Severity of crash 26 2.4. Interpretable Machine Learning (IML) 31 2.4.1. Introduction 31 2.4.2. Application of IML 33 3. Model Specification 37 3.1. Analysis of SSES effectiveness 37 3.1.1. Crashes analysis 37 3.1.2. Speed analysis 39 3.2. Data collection & pre-analysis 40 3.2.1. Data collection 40 3.2.2. Basic statistics of variables 42 3.3. Response variable selection 50 3.4. Model selection 52 3.4.1. Binary classification 52 3.4.2. Accuracy vs. Interpretability 53 3.4.3. Overview of IML 54 3.4.4. Process of model specification 57 4. Model development 59 4.1. Black-box and interpretable model 59 4.1.1. Consists of IML 59 4.1.2. Black-box model 60 4.1.3. Interpretable model 68 4.2. Model development 72 4.2.1. Procedure 72 4.2.2. Measures of effectiveness 74 4.2.3. K-fold cross validation 76 4.3. Result of model development 78 4.3.1. Result of black-box model 78 4.3.2. Result of interpretable model 85 5. Evaluation & Application 91 5.1. Evaluation 91 5.1.1. The PDR framework for IML 91 5.1.2. Predictive accuracy 93 5.1.3. Descriptive accuracy 94 5.1.4. Relevancy 99 5.2. Impact of Casualty Crash Reduction 102 5.2.1. Quantification of the effectiveness 102 5.2.2. Mediation effect analysis 106 5.3. Application for the Korean expressway 118 6. Conclusion 121 6.1. Summary and Findings 121 6.2. Further Research 125Docto

DESIGNING AN INDUCTIVE SENSOR FOR ROAD TRAFFIC MONITORING SYSTEMS AND CONTROL

The purpose of this study is to design an inductive sensor,which detect a vehicle on the road. The main objectives are to design an inductive sensor using an enameled copper wire and interface it to an electronics circuit. The analyses of experiments will mainly the important part of this project. Then, a demonstration will be held to demonstrate the sensing process using a working model. This sensor can change some work from manual to automatically. Examples of situation that can implement this sensor is to control the barrier automatically on the main gates on the roads, to monitor traffic on a narrow curved portion of the road and to count the number of vehicles from a particular point per unit time. At present, there are a lot of sensors available in the market that uses inductive sensor. Many methods can be used in detecting the presence of vehicle and a complete circuit of inductive sensor has also been developed. The result from these methods will assist in the future work of this project

Designing the next generation intelligent transportation sensor system using big data driven machine learning techniques

Accurate traffic data collection is essential for supporting advanced traffic management system operations. This study investigated a large-scale data-driven sequential traffic sensor health monitoring (TSHM) module that can be used to monitor sensor health conditions over large traffic networks. Our proposed module consists of three sequential steps for detecting different types of abnormal sensor issues. The first step detects sensors with abnormally high missing data rates, while the second step uses clustering anomaly detection to detect sensors reporting abnormal records. The final step introduces a novel Bayesian changepoint modeling technique to detect sensors reporting abnormal traffic data fluctuations by assuming a constant vehicle length distribution based on average effective vehicle length (AEVL). Our proposed method is then compared with two benchmark algorithms to show its efficacy. Results obtained by applying our method to the statewide traffic sensor data of Iowa show it can successfully detect different classes of sensor issues. This demonstrates that sequential TSHM modules can help transportation agencies determine traffic sensors’ exact problems, thereby enabling them to take the required corrective steps. The second research objective will focus on the traffic data imputation after we discard the anomaly/missing data collected from failure traffic sensors. Sufficient high-quality traffic data are a crucial component of various Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) applications and research related to congestion prediction, speed prediction, incident detection, and other traffic operation tasks. Nonetheless, missing traffic data are a common issue in sensor data which is inevitable due to several reasons, such as malfunctioning, poor maintenance or calibration, and intermittent communications. Such missing data issues often make data analysis and decision-making complicated and challenging. In this study, we have developed a generative adversarial network (GAN) based traffic sensor data imputation framework (TSDIGAN) to efficiently reconstruct the missing data by generating realistic synthetic data. In recent years, GANs have shown impressive success in image data generation. However, generating traffic data by taking advantage of GAN based modeling is a challenging task, since traffic data have strong time dependency. To address this problem, we propose a novel time-dependent encoding method called the Gramian Angular Summation Field (GASF) that converts the problem of traffic time-series data generation into that of image generation. We have evaluated and tested our proposed model using the benchmark dataset provided by Caltrans Performance Management Systems (PeMS). This study shows that the proposed model can significantly improve the traffic data imputation accuracy in terms of Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) compared to state-of-the-art models on the benchmark dataset. Further, the model achieves reasonably high accuracy in imputation tasks even under a very high missing data rate (\u3e50%), which shows the robustness and efficiency of the proposed model. Besides the loop and radar sensors, traffic cameras have shown great ability to provide insightful traffic information using the image and video processing techniques. Therefore, the third and final part of this work aimed to introduce an end to end real-time cloud-enabled traffic video analysis (IVA) framework to support the development of the future smart city. As Artificial intelligence (AI) growing rapidly, Computer vision (CV) techniques are expected to significantly improve the development of intelligent transportation systems (ITS), which are anticipated to be a key component of future Smart City (SC) frameworks. Powered by computer vision techniques, the converting of existing traffic cameras into connected ``smart sensors called intelligent video analysis (IVA) systems has shown the great capability of producing insightful data to support ITS applications. However, developing such IVA systems for large-scale, real-time application deserves further study, as the current research efforts are focused more on model effectiveness instead of model efficiency. Therefore, we have introduced a real-time, large-scale, cloud-enabled traffic video analysis framework using NVIDIA DeepStream, which is a streaming analysis toolkit for AI-based video and image analysis. In this study, we have evaluated the technical and economic feasibility of our proposed framework to help traffic agency to build IVA systems more efficiently. Our study shows that the daily operating cost for our proposed framework on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is less than $0.14 per camera, and that, compared with manual inspections, our framework achieves an average vehicle-counting accuracy of 83.7% on sunny days