The computer program that warns drivers one hour before a traffic jam appears

The computer program that warns drivers one hour before a traffic jam appears

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Last updated at 4:45 PM on 15th June 2010

Comments (8)

Add to My Stories

Computer giant IBM is developing new software that can predict whether a traffic jam is about to form an hour ahead.

The system will give drivers the chance to change their planned route up to an hour before they become snarled up in heavy traffic.

Using so-called predictive modeling, the software uses a combination of real-time data from road sensors and cameras with historical traffic information and weather forecasts.

Every six weeks it checks back through the data to tweak its model to make it as accurate as possible.

Christmas travel chaos as thousands are caught up in jams on the M6. The new software will warn drivers so they can change their route

The information will be sent to drivers’ sat-nav systems and to electronic roadside signs. Voice recommendations would be sent to a driver’s mobile phone

It will be able to balance traffic across routes so that one road does not automatically become clogged as a result of its warning.

It will even be able to customise its messages so that only a quarter of drivers will be given the warning and so balancing the traffic load across a number of different routes.

In the US, IBM is working with mobile phone companies to let them track how many phones are on a given stretch of motorway to make its model of how busy the road is even more nuanced.

The identity of the individual phones would not be discloses, the report in the Scientific American magazine claimed.

Earlier this year it was revealed that phantom traffic jams - queues of stationary cars that develop for no apparent reason - can be caused by the actions of just one driver.

Dr Eddie Wilson, from the University of Bristol, unveiled research showing that, under the right conditions, one individual's bad driving can create 'a traffic tsunami which can affect traffic up to 50 miles away'.

Working with a team of fellow mathematicians, Dr Wilson analysed driver behaviour on a 10-mile stretch of the M42, which is one of Britain's busiest stretches of motorways.

While accidents did cause tailbacks, the researchers found that the major cause of congestion was nothing more sinister than sharp braking, unnecessary lane changes and lorries overtaking one another.

Under the right conditions, any one of these innocuous events can create the 'perfect storm' which Dr Wilson said can lead to 'traffic chaos'.

During pilot tests in Singapore, IBM’s system forecasts were correct 85 to 93 percent of the time. Similar tests were also successful in the US and the firm has signed contracts with two U.S. transport authorities to roll it out in full.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1286825/The-program-warns-drivers-hour-traffic-jam-appears.html#ixzz0rC51e2d9