Boğaziçi University Civil Engineering Department faculty member Assoc. Dr. Ilgın Gökaşar has developed a system that can remedy traffic congestion by managing traffic with autonomous vehicles.
Boğaziçi University Civil Engineering Department faculty member Assoc. Dr. Ilgın Gökaşar has developed a system that can remedy traffic congestion by managing traffic with autonomous vehicles. Driverless connected vehicles using connection technologies such as 5G and V2X can receive information from each other in the event of an accident and can change their routes with minimal loss of time. Moreover, there is no need for any infrastructure or costly investment to be able to implement the system in a region.
Emphasizing that driverless connected vehicles will be an absolute part of our lives in the future, Assoc. Dr. According to Ilgın Gökaşar, transition to driverless vehicles will not happen suddenly: “Driver and driverless vehicles will take place together in traffic during the transition period. For this reason, it is very important to find out how these vehicles will affect the traffic in a city like Istanbul where traffic congestion is intense and to ensure that they take place in the traffic in an orderly manner. In addition, people who normally cannot drive will be able to travel by autonomous vehicles, for example someone without a license will be able to use these vehicles. Therefore, the number of vehicles in traffic may increase. "
The solution is in traffic management
Assoc. Dr. According to Ilgın Gökaşar, the solution to this problem is through traffic management using driverless connected vehicles: “These vehicles can provide individuals with more collective benefits by using them in improving traffic conditions in the road network, as well as individual benefits such as freedom of movement and safer travel experience, so they should be involved in traffic management. "
The difference of driverless connected vehicles, which is a type of autonomous vehicles, is that they can communicate with each other. V2X, a driverless connected vehicle that uses technology that provides information both from other vehicles in traffic and from the infrastructure, acts by synthesizing the information it receives: “Driverless connected vehicles especially use connection technologies such as 5G and V2X. Thanks to V2X, it adjusts vehicle speed or travel time according to the information it receives from other vehicles. For example, if there is a traffic jam or an accident at a place on your journey, the vehicle moves in a way that will allow you to spend minimum time by creating the route according to this information. Moreover, it does not need any human control, it is a self-controlling system. "
Long queues after accidents will decrease
Gökaşar, who showed what kind of improvements can be achieved in traffic through connected driverless vehicles in the multi-disciplinary project, which started in 2018 and supported by the Boğaziçi University Scientific Research Fund (BAP), explains his work as follows: “Using real and synthetic data in a simulation environment and in uninterrupted mixed traffic flow conditions We investigated what kind of commands we could make improvements in traffic by giving the vehicles, and we saw that when we combine the methods we tested with connected driverless vehicles, the long queues caused by traffic jams decrease. In addition, we can make the average speed and flow values in that region more homogeneous and make the traffic conditions more stable and safe. "
"A ready-to-use system"
As of November 2020, Gökaşar and his team's project was also entitled to be supported by TÜBİTAK within the Scientific and Technological Research Support Program (1001). Sharing that they have also applied for a patent because they have developed a system that has not been implemented before, Ilgın Gökaşar emphasizes that the system does not require any facility infrastructure or costly investment: "At the moment, any municipality can implement the system we offer with the facilities available, it has no cost and is ready to use."
"Traffic management will also improve for public transport"
Although people are mostly directed to public transportation in traffic jam discussions, Assoc. Dr. Gökaşar says that a permanent solution will only be possible with "travel demand management": “For the solution of traffic congestion, it is necessary to design cities where people have the minimum need to drive to go to their jobs or schools, and where they can reach the places they want by bicycle or walking. I have conducted a lot of research on public transportation before. In order to direct people to public transportation, public transportation must be of good quality, if you use public transportation, you will choose your own vehicle if you will stop at the stops for a long time or be exposed to more traffic jams. The ultimate goal of my work is to enable people to travel healthier, safer and faster. Managing traffic with autonomous vehicles will also improve public transportation. "
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