Abstract
Traffic is a major problem for the urban population these days. Hence, through this paper, it is intended to
provide an online portal that will help a user browse through for the real time traffic status of a particular
area which he/she wants to reach. In case of heavy traffic congestion in that area, the next best shortest
route(s) to reach the same location will be shown. The web portal will also contain dynamic querying
facility to enable the user to find the possible traffic density in any particular area for some time in the near
future. The real time traffic video is captured using CCTV. This CCTV video is processed using MATLAB
software and the traffic density is calculated continually in the server end. The traffic density thereof is
continually updated in a database. This database is in turn interfaced with a Geographical Information
System (GIS) for finding the alternative optimal route to reach an area with high traffic congestion, using
open source platforms. The bases for optimal route finding are the feature details of that area stored in
spatial database and the traffic density that is continually updated in the database. Hence, ArcGIS is used to
perform the route analysis and it is interfaced with Geo server for launching the results on the online portal.
The GIS platform is also used for generating a traffic simulation pattern for a specified time in the future.
Key words: Traffic congestion, GIS, Video processing, optimal route selection.
Introduction
Chennai is a congested city in India. Traffic congestion occurs when volume of traffic is greater than
the road capacity. Road and traffic control has become one of the most important issues in Chennai city.
Traffic information services help us to inform the public about optimal routes of use in order to avoid traffic
delays. This paper aims at providing the solution for those kinds of traffic delays to commuters. The overall
architecture of the system and procedure is described in this paper. The web based solution helps in
improving road safety, reducing pollution level and in saving time. Geographic Information System (GIS) is
used to store, maintain and analyze transportation and traffic data. The web based portal consists of
following processes for selecting optimal path. It starts with finding the traffic density between the given
two locations. Then shortest path between two given locations is found out by network analysis. The system
provides traffic control decisions based on road characteristics and traffic density. The factors influencing
the optimal path decision are traffic density, presence of accidents, construction, political meetings and
special occasions, minimum travel time, average speed, road length, flooding and others. The shortest path
algorithm has following steps:
1. The current location and desired destination are received from the user
2. The search is started at the neighboring node with the shortest distance
For implementing GIS database applications on internet, three-tier architecture is used. This
architecture uses platform-independent Java applet as the front end for the client. The Java applet can run in
any Java-enabled web browser, regardless of the operating system used. The client side is an interactive map
applet. The server provides the user with the optimal path, simulated traffic density for the future. The
information is obtained from the GIS database.
Study area
Chennai, earlier known Madras, is one of the four major metropolitan cities, located in southern
India. It lies between 12° 09’, 80° 12’NE and 13° 09’, 80° 19’NE. It has a population of 6.04 million and an
area of 170.47 Sq.km. The population growth is increasing at an average rate of 25 percent per decade.
Chennai has two administrative boundaries; the outer boundary is Chennai metropolitan boundary which
encompasses the suburban areas while the inner one is the corporation boundary which includes only the
urban area. It shares its boundary with Andhra Pradesh at the North, Bay of Bengal at the East, Indian
Ocean at the South and Kerala at its West. The various available routes are chosen from Anna University
through Thiruvanmiyur for implementing and testing the project; there are three direct road routes
between these two places. Their coordinates are 13°00’38.01” N, 80°14’09.88” E and 12°58’56.69” N,
80°15’44.56” E respectively.

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http://mapindia2010/proceeding/Poster/Jayashree.pdf