»The increase in traffic and severe environmental problems caused by particulate matter and nitrogen oxides make it urgently necessary to implement effective traffic management strategies,« says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Plank-Wiedenbeck, head of the Professorship for Transport System Planning and project coordinator at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. But there is often a lack in reliable data exchange between the different stakeholders. »The digitalisation and networking of traffic creates new instruments which must be developed, tested and implemented in practice,« Plank-Wiedenbeck continues.

Intelligent traffic management
Innovative traffic management strategies are to be developed and prototypes implemented in Dortmund, Frankfurt am Main, Kassel, and the Rhine-Main region within the scope of the »SCHOOL« collaborative project, which will draw on open data-oriented solutions to change the existing strategy. The aim is to use networked information on the traffic situation, traffic light timing, and environmental and meteorological data to manage the traffic flow in urban areas and thus render it environmentally-friendly and efficient. Gamification and reward incentives will be integrated for the first time and used to motivate drivers to change their behaviour. Alternative routes can be determined, for example, and suggested to road users via an app. The idea is that whoever follows these suggestions will be awarded bonus points that can then be exchanged for rewards.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Plank-Wiedenbeck’s project will be implemented over three years in cooperation with the TH Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences and three companies specialising in traffic information and management. The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar will receive a €400,000 share in the funding from the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI).

The digital street
The »Digital Street« interdisciplinary research group on intelligent traffic infrastructure for networked and highly automated driving is taking a different approach. A platform to model, simulate and analyse applications for the digital street is to be designed under the supervision of the Professorships for Transport System Planning, Computing in Civil Engineering, and Steel and Hybrid Structures. The goal is to use digital applications to strengthen the links between the fields of traffic, computing in civil engineering and structures, and develop reliable forecasting models. Energy self-sufficient, intelligent micromechanical sensors (MEMS) are to be used to record traffic parameters, environmental data, and status information for structures near streets. If traffic management centres and automated vehicles can successfully be linked, traffic flow could be planned with greater certainty in the future, and the impact on structures and the environment predicted at an early stage.

Around €700,000 in funding is being made available to the project managers Prof. Dr.-Ing. Plank-Wiedenbeck, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kay Smarsly, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kraus for implementation starting in January 2018. The project is being financed by the Thuringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society.

Project manager Prof. Dr.-Ing. Plank-Wiedenbeck is on hand to answer any questions:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Plank-Wiedenbeck
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Professorship for Transport System Planning
Tel.: +49 (0) 36 43/58 44 72
Email: uwe.plank-wiedenbeck[at]uni-weimar.de

»The increase in traffic and severe environmental problems caused by particulate matter and nitrogen oxides make it urgently necessary to implement effective traffic management strategies,« says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Plank-Wiedenbeck, head of the Professorship for Transport System Planning and project coordinator at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. But there is often a lack in reliable data exchange between the different stakeholders. »The digitalisation and networking of traffic creates new instruments which must be developed, tested and implemented in practice,« Plank-Wiedenbeck continues.

Intelligent traffic management
Innovative traffic management strategies are to be developed and prototypes implemented in Dortmund, Frankfurt am Main, Kassel, and the Rhine-Main region within the scope of the »SCHOOL« collaborative project, which will draw on open data-oriented solutions to change the existing strategy. The aim is to use networked information on the traffic situation, traffic light timing, and environmental and meteorological data to manage the traffic flow in urban areas and thus render it environmentally-friendly and efficient. Gamification and reward incentives will be integrated for the first time and used to motivate drivers to change their behaviour. Alternative routes can be determined, for example, and suggested to road users via an app. The idea is that whoever follows these suggestions will be awarded bonus points that can then be exchanged for rewards.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Plank-Wiedenbeck’s project will be implemented over three years in cooperation with the TH Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences and three companies specialising in traffic information and management. The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar will receive a €400,000 share in the funding from the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI).

The digital street
The »Digital Street« interdisciplinary research group on intelligent traffic infrastructure for networked and highly automated driving is taking a different approach. A platform to model, simulate and analyse applications for the digital street is to be designed under the supervision of the Professorships for Transport System Planning, Computing in Civil Engineering, and Steel and Hybrid Structures. The goal is to use digital applications to strengthen the links between the fields of traffic, computing in civil engineering and structures, and develop reliable forecasting models. Energy self-sufficient, intelligent micromechanical sensors (MEMS) are to be used to record traffic parameters, environmental data, and status information for structures near streets. If traffic management centres and automated vehicles can successfully be linked, traffic flow could be planned with greater certainty in the future, and the impact on structures and the environment predicted at an early stage.

Around €700,000 in funding is being made available to the project managers Prof. Dr.-Ing. Plank-Wiedenbeck, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kay Smarsly, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kraus for implementation starting in January 2018. The project is being financed by the Thuringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society.

Project manager Prof. Dr.-Ing. Plank-Wiedenbeck is on hand to answer any questions:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Plank-Wiedenbeck
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Professorship for Transport System Planning
Tel.: +49 (0) 36 43/58 44 72
Email: uwe.plank-wiedenbeck[at]uni-weimar.de