A Traffic Advisory System for Islamabad

Traffic congestion is an increasing problem in urban environments. As cities develop, more traffic is featuring on the roads. However, adequate and timely measures are required in terms of infrastructure development to facilitate smooth flow of traffic. In this research we have designed and implemented a traffic advisory system for Islamabad, Pakistan. This system advises the commuter of the shortest route to destination, alternative route in case of congestion or when an incident has occurred. In addition it can provide information about major landmarks on the route, so that commuter can be advised of necessary information of the city if required. This system can also advise the civil authorities of particular traffic bottle necks in order for necessary road or traffic rectifications to be made. 1.0 Introduction: Islamabad being the capital of Pakistan built in the 1960s is a planned city, where the road network has been carefully designed and implemented to cater for a growing population. Furthermore it features a regular road grid infrastructure that helps the traveler reach his desired destination in an easy manner. Essentially the city is divided into sectors, and each sector is further partitioned into four sub sectors. Each sub sector has a regular road layout, numbered in a consistent way so that navigation is simplified and easy to carry out [1]. Since traffic congestion pose an increasing problem in most parts of urban development, including Islamabad, it is bound to affect any planned city where the population is increasing and consequently the number of vehicles will be steadily on the rise. To the daily commuter congestion means valuable time lost, frustration due to missed opportunities and waste of resources. Also businesses are affected as workers do not report to work on time. As a consequence productivity is compromised and invariably cost of various products and services is increased [2]. The idea behind this research is to take advantage of the planned setup of Islamabad, and develop a traffic advisory system that helps the commuter reach his destination in shortest route or time. However if traffic is restrained due to poor road conditions, high traffic flow or simply due to bad weather and visibility, then an alternate route is required. Furthermore a system is desired that can provide step by step guidance to the commuter on how to reach his destination by providing full directions with graphical support. Table 1 below shows the main features of the proposed system: Table 1: Proposed features of the traffic advisory system