An automatic network travel time system—ANTTS

Organizations responsible for road systems and the management of traffic, require comprehensive information concerning the traffic carrying performance of their networks. Link travel time is an essential parameter required to effectively pin-point trouble spots both for immediate use and for planning and reporting purposes. Until recently, travel time has been measured on an ad hoc basis, usually manually by measuring travel time from a moving vehicle. The Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales, Australia (RTA), decided that more reliable and comprehensive data was needed to fulfil its minimum requirements. A design and development program was put in place to evolve a system to provide the required data in the most economical way. The paper describes the alternatives considered and details the reasons for selection of the chosen technology. The ANTTS system elements are described and some results of a pilot study are presented. While ANTTS was designed primarily to do its main function well, its communication capability allows easy enhancement to cover other IVHS functions such as position specific incident and congestion information broadcasting. These proposed enhancements to the system are described.