Introduction of ITS laboratory

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Applicants from other school are not admissible in H29 because of capacity.

Creating intelligent and smart transport supported by IT
to enhance the attractiveness of urban areas

We have been studying various approaches that are useful for designing transport networks and for effective operation, management and control of transport systems. We adopt a comprehensive approach in which both descriptive and normative modeling tools are incorporated. Our methodologies are based on statistics, operations research, marketing research as well as traffic and transportation engineering. Our overall goal is to provide transport systems that improve the quality of life and are sustainable in the long run. In the following we describe some examples of recent research in our group.

Enhancing Road Network Reliability

The reliability of transportation networks is an increasingly important issue for sustained economic growth and improvement in the quality of life. We propose a method of evaluating the Level of Service (LoS) of a road network using ETC data to estimate travel time reliability. The LoS of an intercity highway network was analyzed empirically using these data to obtain the average travel time (ATT) and reliability with the aim of quantifying the stability and the certainty of the road network. Based on the discussion above, we have been studying the practical schemes to improve the transport network design, operation, management and control that may lead to improved network reliability.
　　　　　Fig.1:Cumulative distribution of ATT【Kyoto→Suita】

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Tsunami Evacuation Models Considering Car-usage

Triggered by the 11th March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster, we study measures that could relieve the impact of a potential similar disaster in the Osaka Bay coastal areas. We focus on studying the appropriate use of vehicles to assist especially vulnerable population groups such as the elderly in the aftermath of such a disaster. We have proposed two measures for evacuation from a tsunami. The first is to use the shelters of Hanshin-Expressway (Case 1). A second measure is based on the idea of “contra-flows” (Case 2). Under this measure traffic is only allowed to flow in one direction to facilitate faster evacuation from the tsunami endangered area. Fig. 2 below shows the total evacuation time and Fig. 3 the completed rate of evacuations depending on time. The results illustrate that through the measures the total evacuation time reduces and the percentage of people that can be evacuated early increases. With the results of this study we aim to help evacuation planning and to provide effective disaster counter-measures.
　　　　　Fig.2:Total evacuation time　　　　　　　　　　　　Fig.3:Evacuation rate by time

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Public Transport line loads and bus stop RTI

Providing high quality public transport (PT) services can attract passengers and reduce congestion in cities. We consider two issues that are often perceived as obstacles to more often use PT. Firstly, we predict the effect of insufficient seats and overall vehicle capacity on passengers' choices. For this we develop mathematical modelling approaches. Secondly, we evaluate the effect of providing real time information (RTI) at bus stops and on mobile phones that accurately predict the arrival of vehicles.
　　　　　　　Fig.4:Network representation of a PT stop

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