One of Melbourne’s busiest roads will host a world-leading traffic management system that uses the latest technology to reduce traffic jams and improve road safety.
‘Intelligent Corridor’ at Nicholson Street, Carlton was launched by the University of Melbourne, the Austrian technology company Kapsch TrafficCom and the Victorian Ministry of Transport.
The intelligent corridor, which covers a 2.5-kilometer stretch of Nicholson Street between Alexandra and Victoria Parades, will use sensors, cloud-based AI, machine learning algorithms, predictive models and real-time data capture to improve traffic management – ease congestion, improve traffic safety for cars, pedestrians and cyclists, and reducing emissions from congested traffic.
Utilizing different types of traffic sensors already installed by AIMES, the team will fine-tune the intelligent corridor over the next three years. The sensors will connect and monitor all parts of the transport environment. Safety measurements will be incorporated into real-time traffic signal management, derived from traffic safety software developed by Advanced Mobility Analytics Group.
AIMES (Australian Integrated Multimodal EcoSystem) is the world’s first and largest ecosystem for testing new connected large-scale transport technologies in complex urban environments. It includes over 100 kilometers of road network in Melbourne, bordered by Lygon and Hoddle Streets, and Victoria and Alexandra Parades and receives support from the Victorian Ministry of Transport.
The intelligent corridor marks a significant new phase that provides a new level of monitoring, with sensors at every intersection and a host of initiatives that will create a world-leading traffic management system.
AIMES Director and Professor of Transport Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Professor Majid Sarvi said the Intelligent Corridor will serve as a model for cities around the world to reduce the cost of urban transport. Urban congestion costs the Australian economy $ 16.5 billion in travel delays each year, according to Infrastructure Australia’s Infrastructure Audit Report 2019.
“In Melbourne alone, 492 people lost their lives in urban accidents – more than half of which were pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists – between 2006 and 2019. Our intelligent corridor will use the latest technology to better manage traffic and make our roads safer for everyone, ”said Professor Sarvi.
The project will collect pre- and post-data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the corridor. Its performance will be fine-tuned to continuously improve results over the next three years, thus providing important evidence for implementation in other cities.
The Intelligent Corridor will use the global technology company Kapsch TrafficCom’s corridor management platform EcoTrafiX.
TrafficCom Executive Vice President of Asia-Pacific, Matthew McLeish, said: “From connected vehicles to autonomous driving to integrated mobility management, this technology lays the foundation for a sustainable and congestion-free future by leveraging the very best in multimodal demand management technologies such as the Kapsch-platform EcoTraf. . “
Victorian Minister of Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll said the intelligent corridor is an important and exciting step for Melbourne.
“I am extremely proud that this world-leading initiative is being taken in Melbourne,” Carroll said.
“The University of Melbourne’s academic expertise and technological capacity, combined with the commitment of the Department of Transport and industry partners, create the ideal conditions for developing a safer, smarter and more accessible transport future for Melbourne.”
Intelligent Corridor is supported by a $ 2 million Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant with contributions from the University of Melbourne and industry partners Kapsch TrafficCom and Advanced Mobility Analytics Group.
ARC Acting CEO Judi Zielke said: “The University of Melbourne, Kapsch TrafficCom and the Department of Transport Victoria have, through their collaboration and connections across disciplines, taken the idea of reducing traffic jams to a real-life, real-time application.”