Press release
PTV wins Urban Solutions‘ Pitch held by BITKOM and CeBIT
Jury impressed by RIO method for signal control optimisation
Karlsruhe, Germany. 17 January 2012. Today, the BITKOM association announced the winners of the Urban Solutions‘ Pitch: PTV AG, the provider of software solutions and consulting for transportation planning, won the prize for the best solution in the category "Mobility and Logistics". With RIO, an innovative method for signal control optimisation, the German transportation experts scored first place and thus beat 70 competitors. PTV will be presenting its RIO method at the Urban Solutions Forum in hall 8 during CeBIT 2012, in Hanover, March 6 - 10.
RIO stands for "Road Intersection Optimization". It is a new method for efficient traffic signal control and has been developed by PTV's transportation experts. "So far traffic signal control systems have only been analysed for individual intersections or a sequence of intersections. These results have been used as the basis for signal control optimisation," explains PTV Board member Thomas Haupt. "However, this restricted analysis does not provide a consistent view of the entire traffic flow." The RIO method now enables planners to take a much larger area into consideration, even entire cities, including competing traffic flows. "For the first time traffic can be planned in a normative manner and be optimised and controlled accordingly," says Haupt.
Demand-based transportation model as the basis
Moreover, signal control optimisation based on traffic counts does not provide any forecasts. It only reflects the current traffic situation. The situation is different when using the RIO method as it allows planners to develop a traffic platform which models a variety of scenarios.
The RIO method uses a demand-based transportation model. This means that it is scalable in terms of time and space or for different traffic management scenarios. If conditions change, for example due to road construction or busy shopping days, the traffic signal control system can be quickly adjusted to the new situation.
Application for transportation planning software VISUM
"Users in Brazil and the Dominican Republic have already applied the RIO method ," says Haupt. "We also use the transportation planning software VISUM which is part of our PTV Vision software suite for the application." The software is based on an integrated approach and can be used for both navigation networks and autonavigation. Data generated by means of the RIO methods can be used for all levels of transportation planning and traffic engineering. As a result, this PTV innovation is the ideal solution for dealing with individual challenges and addressing complex urban issues, such as permanent traffic jams.
