The first application of a new form of traffic optimisation in South Africa is currently underway in Stellenbosch.
The traffic signal optimisation project came after a collaboration between Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Faculty of Civil Engineering, the Stellenbosch Municipality, and industry partners including Syntell, Techso and the PTV group.
According to Deon Louw, director of Infrastructure Services at Stellenbosch Municipality, it’s expected that drivers will travel through Stellenbosch 20% faster with this new software.
Additionally, this improved flow of traffic will also increase fuel efficiency because of less disruptive stopping and accelerating, said Megan Bruwer, lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering and project coordinator of the Stellenbosch Smart Mobility Lab (SSML).
Congestion is prevented by optimising intersections and coordinating traffic signals, Bruwer explained.
Instead of optimising for typical traffic patterns collected months ago, traffic information is collected in real-time from individual intersections, and fed into a computer program with a transport model of the whole of Stellenbosch, she added.
Megan Bruwer gives a practical example explaining how and why real-time traffic information clears congestion on roads.
The project modeling is based on the master’s thesis of Wilko Mohr, SU graduate and transportation engineer, under Bruwer’s supervision.
“The main aim of the master’s was to adapt and test the effectiveness of this traffic adaptive signal control system in our developing country context,” said Mohr.
Wilko Mohr, SU graduate and transportation engineer standing with his completed master’s thesis in hand, on 7 October 2019, at the Stellenbosch Smart Mobility Lab. “This [the masters] included questioning the project’s applicability and whether South Africa has the appropriate resources and infrastructure, to make it function in a similar fashion as it does in Europe,” he said.
Megan Bruwer, lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering and Project Coordinator at the Stellenbosch Smart Mobility Lab, explains how this software differs from older forms of TASC, such as SCOOT. According to Deon Louw, Director of Infrastructure Services at Stellenbosch Municipality, SCOOT is “rather old technology” and still used in Cape Town.
The team on sight at the installation of the first traffic controller in the first phase of the project, on 15 July. From left to right: Patrick Beyer (MX and ITS Product Manager at Syntell) Johan Fullard (senior manager at Stellenbosch Municipality), Anton Struwig (project manager fromTechso), Megan Bruwer (lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering SU and project coordinator at the Stellenbosch Smart Mobility Lab).
PHOTO: supplied
Fluent future traffic flow
“We are planning for a second phase to be completed by June 2021,” said Louw.
This will include covering SU’s campus, including all intersections along Merriman and Bird Streets, and a section of Adam Tas Street, he said.
Phase three would include the rest of R44 towards Somerset West and in the year thereafter, all remaining Stellenbosch intersections as well, Louw added.
This map (above) of Stellenbosch illustrates the first phase of the project. It is aimed to be complete by the end of August 2020, says Deon Louw, director of Infrastructure Services at Stellenbosch Municipality. About 10 traffic light controllers are to be installed at 10 intersections. PHOTO: supplied by Megan Bruwer
Location and Lockdown impact
“The advantage of this being done in Stellenbosch initially, is that there aren’t as many intersections in comparison to Cape Town for example,” said Louw.
However, Bruwer explained that lockdown results in an inability to see the project’s impact on peak traffic that Stellenbosch experiences, even though testing new software with slightly lower levels of traffic is preferable.
According to Louw, the full effectiveness and efficiency of the project will become more evident when the rest of SU students return.
The controller at the intersection of Van Reede Road and Strand Street (R44) being connected to the traffic signal optimisation software on 15 July, by Patrick Beyer, MX and ITS Product Manager at Syntell. According to Megan Bruwer, Project Coordinator at the Stellenbosch Smart Mobility Lab and Lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering, this was the first intersection to go live with the new traffic management system.
PHOTO: Megan Bruwer