Intelligent Transport Systems StrategyAndrew Walsh

Municipality of Sofia Traffic Master Plan

Introduction

• Presentation to describe an ITS Strategy for Sofia developed as part of the Sofia Traffic Master Plan

• This Strategy creates a framework for planning, implementing and operating all aspects of intelligent traffic management in the city

• In the short term, as the first part of the Strategy, there is apriority need to describe the requirements for implementing an improved traffic control network

Current Situation in Sofia

Sofia is facing a number of key transport challenges:

Car ownership is increasing rapidly

Parking pressure is severe, exceeding available capacity both in residential areas and the city centre.

Journey times by private and surface public transport are deteriorating and the main streets have become seriously congested,

Road Safety is a serious concern with high casualty rates arising from poor driving practices,

Review of DHV Studies

• Two reports 2008 & 2009 on traffic management in Sofia

• Comprehensive, robust and professional work

• Describes technical, operational and financial recommendations for a traffic management system

• Compliments outcomes from ITS Strategy

• Requirement to combine the two strategies to avoid duplication

ITS Foundations in Sofia

• Good understanding of ITS & traffic control within the Municipality

• Traffic control centre & UTC system already well established

• Programme to install modern signal controllers

• Knowledge management system created by Centre for Urban Mobility - GIS tool

• CCTV Network• Integrated Information System

for the City

The ITS Vision for the Municipality of Sofia:

“Development of a coordinated, integrated multi-agency Intelligent Transport System to support the realisation of the safety, mobility and environmental needs of the City”

ЯДРО

ИИССОИСКУТ

ИТС

Транспортнонаправление

СтоличнаСтолична общинаобщина

E-city is developed by a specialized team under the direct control of the city. The policy includes:

• Integration standards and regulations

• Integrated Information System for Sofia City (I I S S C)

• Information System for Control and Management of Traffic in Sofia (ISCMT),

The ITS Strategy developed as part of the Traffic Master Plan is required to comply with the requirements and standards of the IISSC

Reducing congestion on the highway network in Sofia has far reaching benefits for the overall quality of life of residents and commuters in the City.

Reducing congestion in Sofia will, amongst other benefits, improve the productivity of the workforce in the city, reduce overall pollution due to less standing traffic and decrease stress for drivers.

Currently in Sofia traffic congestion is increasing, with frequent traffic delays during the peak periods. This situation needs to be managed and the delays reduced.

Increasing public transport usage is an important way of reducing congestion, by encouraging modal shift from the car to public transport.

In Sofia there is an aspiration by its residents and commuters to own a car and not rely on public transport. Whilst this aspiration is recognised as continuing, as it has economic benefits for Bulgaria, it does pose issues when the car is used as the preferred mode of transport for travelling into and around Sofia.

To encourage people to leave their cars at home and use public transport they need to be made aware of the benefits of alternative modes. One of the key ways of encouraging modal shift is to make public transport easily accessible, cheaper and faster than using the private car.

By improving the management of Sofia’s highway and public transport network, the Municipality can maximise the efficiency of the road assets.

By maximising both highways and public transport assets, the City will be able to manage the networks to decrease public transport journey times and decrease traffic congestion.

With an increase in car usage comes an increase in greenhouse gases. Newer modern cars do pollute less than older models, however the increases in car ownership with Sofia could nullify these savings.

Another major source of pollution is from HGVs. Reducing the number of HGVs in Sofia will reduce pollution. While HGVs are needed to deliver goods and a total ban would be unfeasible, restricting their movement times would reduce pollution at the busy times.

Finally, another major source of pollution is aging public transport rolling stock. Old buses and trams consume more power and fuel than newer more efficient vehicles and so by updating the rolling stock to newer models pollution in Sofia would be reduced.

Journey times that are unpredictable are a source of frustration for the travelling public. When planning their journey the public prefer that the time taken to get to their destination is constant between days and does not vary.

This is true for both car journeys and public transport journeys.

Reliable journey times reduce frustration.

Road safety is a serious concern in Bulgaria, with nearly 1,000 people killed each year and around 10,000 injured in road accidents. With close to 125 road crash deaths per 1 million inhabitants, the rate of accidents in Bulgaria is approximately two and a half times greater than the best performing EU Member States and 10% to 12% above the EU average.

With a high number of incidents comes increased traffic congestion due to the aftermath of a collision and the time taken to remove the debris and injured parties.

Reducing the number of incidents will reduce traffic congestion and journey times.

Database

Datamanage-

mentfacility

Intranet/ Internet

Intranet/ Internet

Public DisplaySystems

MobileDevices

Web Services

Integrated Informationto the Sofia Public

WebServices

WebServices

Real Time Passenger Info Display Systems

UTC Car Park Guidance

CommunicationSystem

CommunicationSystem

CCTVVMS

Sofia Current & Future Traffic Management Systems

Traffic Control Centre

!KMS

ЯДРО

ИСКУТ

ИТС

E-city

Traffic control strategy

• Continue the programme to replace all old traffic signal controllers with modern microprocessor controllers

• Create programme to identify those junctions that would benefit from vehicle actuated control

• Install vehicle actuated control and necessary vehicle detectors to achieve maximum operational efficiency

• Carry out detailed review of the existing UTC network

• Develop a suite of UTC plans to maximise operation for all times of the day for all sites under UTC control

Vehicle actuated control

• Alternate forms of vehicle detection – above ground preferred

• Provide vehicle detection on all traffic approaches

• Provide pedestrian demand units for pedestrian movements in the junction

Traffic modelling

• Carry out traffic modelling of junction(s) for each time period of the day

• Optimise the stages and green times for each time period

• Optimise clearance times (particularly for pedestrians)

Urban Traffic Control

• For all junctions that are under UTC control, develop alternate plans for each time period during the day (i.e. am peak, inter peak, pm peak, evening) to optimise efficiency

• Develop alternative plans for special events such as football matches

• Develop alternative plans for regular congestion problems

• Keep cycle times as low as possible, particularly where pedestrian stages are used

• Plan to introduce adaptive UTC

Public transport priority

• Provide priority at traffic signals for public transport

• Optimise use of bus lanes and traffic signal junction layouts

• Provide dynamic priority for buses and trams through selective vehicle detection on traffic signal junction approaches

• Provide a link between the APTMS and UTC systems, or local detection for SVD input

Vulnerable road users

• Develop facilities to encourage pedestrians and cyclists

• Provide cycle lanes and advanced stop lines at signals to improve cyclist safety

• Provide pedestrian crossings and signals wherever possible and there is a demand

• Provide facilities for the disabled such as tactile paving and audible signals for the partially sighted

Maintenance and operation

• Develop a regime for regular checks on the operation and maintenance of the traffic signals

• Ensure an adequate maintenance contract is in place to meet the municipality requirements

• Use remote monitoring for automatically detecting and reporting traffic signal faults

• Develop a regime for regular checks on the performance of the traffic signals to ensure maximum efficiency

Next Steps

• Develop and implement the proposed traffic control policies and measures

• Utilise the ITS Strategy to identify those ITS measures for implementation as projects in short and long term to meet the ITS core objectives

• Sofia has already achieved a good level of integration of ITS technical measures as demonstrated by the e-city concept and the work of the Centre of Urban Mobility.

• However there is still a requirement to integrate the organisation and operation of the multiple organisation responsible for traffic management in the city

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