In this blog post, we’ll examine the principles and processes by which traffic engineering uses real-time traffic information to reduce travel time during the holiday season.
During Seollal and Chuseok—the nation’s two major holidays—private vehicles heading to their hometowns congest the highways, leading to recurring traffic jams. Such traffic congestion causes significant losses not only to individuals but also to society and the environment due to increased travel times. However, in recent years, highway traffic management in South Korea has continuously improved, and thanks to the provision of real-time traffic information and the development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), travel times during holiday homecoming trips have been significantly reduced compared to the past. Despite factors that increase travel time—such as the growing number of people returning home and the rising proportion of private vehicle use—the efficient distribution of vehicles on the highways—achieved by providing users with the fastest route from their departure point to their destination based on real-time traffic conditions—has greatly contributed to reducing travel time.
As such, providing highway traffic information to users requires a process of collecting and processing that data. First, highway traffic volume must be collected. Traffic volume refers to the number of vehicles passing through a specific point on a road per unit of time. To measure traffic volume, traffic measurement devices such as vehicle counters are used.
When an air-filled tube is installed across the road, the air inside the tube is compressed by the weight of the vehicle as it passes over it. At this point, a pressure sensor connected to the tube detects the change in pressure and generates an electrical signal. By summing the number of electrical signals generated in this way, we can determine the number of vehicles that passed through that point per unit of time.
Next, let’s look at how to process traffic volume data to calculate average speed. To measure a vehicle’s speed, we use speed measurement devices. When a vehicle passes through Sensor 1 and then Sensor 2, the equipment records the time it passes each point. By calculating the difference between these two times, we can determine the time it took the vehicle to travel between the two points. Then, using the formula “speed = distance ÷ time,” we divide the distance between the two points by the travel time to find the vehicle’s speed. After calculating the speed of each vehicle in this manner and taking the arithmetic mean, we can obtain the average speed for that section.
Finally, let’s examine how to calculate the travel time using the average speed. Since the length of a specific section is already known, the time taken to pass through that section can be calculated using the formula “Time = Distance ÷ Speed.” Next, by summing the travel times for all highway sections that must be traversed from the starting point to the destination, the total travel time for that route can be determined. After calculating the total travel time in the same manner for all possible routes, the route with the shortest travel time is provided to the user.
In this way, highway traffic information is generated and processed through a procedure that involves collecting traffic volume, calculating average speeds, and deriving the travel time for each segment based on these values. This processed information is provided to users in real time through navigation systems and smartphone map services. It is quite interesting that one of the core principles behind this seemingly complex traffic information processing is the basic formula “time = distance ÷ speed,” which is taught in middle school physics. Furthermore, active research is currently underway to collect and process traffic information more accurately and quickly by utilizing various cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), video analysis, radar, and vehicle-to-road communication technology. Traffic engineering will continue to advance in the future, and these advancements will lead to safer and more pleasant journeys home than ever before.
