Smart traffic online system (STOS): Presenting road networks with time-weighted graphs

Abstract

Driving direction traffic Systems are becoming needed systems among many Geographical Information systems (GIS's) by many kinds of users. Yahoo maps, MapQuest, and Google Earth are examples of online Internet applications. Vehicles GPS or what is known as navigation systems are also examples. Calculating the best driving path (shorter in distance or faster in time) between two addresses is subject to many factors. Some of these factors are distances, road situation, road traffic and others. This paper presents the driving traffic problem and a solution for finding an efficient path between two points (addresses) having a number factors. It discusses spatial databases, current solutions, and finally presents a smart solution that is an extension previous solution using A∗ (an artificial intelligent algorithm) and A∗Traffic (a variation of A∗, proposed in a previous paper). The new solution uses time as the main factor in the graph representing the road network.