The Belgian city of Ghent is developing a traffic management platform that gives inhabitants, commuters and visitors a real-time overview of how best to get around the city. Authorities can use it to better manage traffic and respond to problems. Once fully operational, it will be able to provide information on accidents, roadworks, traffic jams and the availability of parking spaces.
Belgium: Ghent develops smart traffic management system for improved mobility
- 29 July 2020
Our final goal is, and will always be, to improve life for all those living in Ghent. It is clear that processing traffic data to provide real-time information to our residents will do so.
The cloud-based platform collects and processes data to produce meaningful statistics that users can access via a dashboard. It allows for two-way communication: receiving information from residents that traffic authorities can respond to, and sending commuters traffic-related notifications. The aim is for people to be able to personalise the dashboard to their needs so they can plan and see problems that affect their own trip.
The dashboard was first tested during the Gentse Feesten in July 2019, an annual 10-day music festival that draws one million visitors to the city. This allowed the developers to identify problems and get feedback from the city’s transport authorities, fire brigade, police and emergency services.
Opening the dashboard to the general public, including the notifications feature, is planned for late summer 2020 following a second test phase involving residents.
Flexibility
Given the constantly evolving nature of technology, the system will be made flexible enough so that it can be adapted and updated with new functions for use in small- to medium sized cities around the world. The platform will be tested in three other places to ensure it can work in different contexts: the Belgian city of Antwerp, London’s Southwark district and Durán in Ecuador.
The platform includes public transport, road traffic density, weather conditions, air quality and roadworks. The latter is important because many are planned in the city over the coming years.
No traditional traffic management centre
The project was a response to the realisation that creating a traditional traffic management centre was not feasible as it would focus only on cars and require massive investment, in addition to people watching screens 24/7. Ghent’s cloud-based solution avoids excessive spending on hardware, makes use of the latest technologies and includes multiple forms of transport such as cycling and walking.
The project will conduct research to produce two reports to close the gap between how traffic management systems are built and what users expect. One report will focus on the current status of traffic management and the needs and visions of operators. A second report will focus on what information citizens want to effectively plan their journeys.
A research partner will investigate if there is a business model for the concept, known as TMaaS, and how it compares with the cost of ‘old-fashioned’ traffic management.
Staying on track
The project involves many partners: government, research institutions, NGOs, SMEs and big commercial companies. To ensure that they all stay focused, monthly meetings are held; all project documents are accessible online; a weekly internal newsletter is sent out; and a Slack channel was set up for real-time communication. In addition, partners can meet in person at a Ghent co-working space every Thursday and participate in a teambuilding exercise every six months.
In 2019, the second year of the project, partners participated in 32 conferences in 14 countries to get feedback on – and spread the word – about the initiative.
Funding for the project, which wraps up in 2021, is provided by the ERDF and Urban Innovative Actions, an EU initiative that provides cities with funding they can use to implement inventive projects to improve the lives of their residents.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “TMaaS – Traffic Management as a Service” is EUR 4 330 697, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 3 464 557 through the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative for the 2014-2020 programming period.