The Effective Traffic Management (ETM) solution has emerged as a powerful analysis tool that could ultimately make car traffic smoother, taking into account environmental issues as well as the quality of life of all travellers.

ETM’s primary objective is to simulate various situations. For example, it can use a virtual model to reproduce a city’s traffic so we can observe global traffic more closely (vehicle traffic, the underground network, tramways and pedestrians).

The flow and signalling data collected using the sensors physically placed in the studied city are also included in this model. This tool can generate analyses for local authorities, who can then use these studies to adapt their infrastructure by changing the duration of a traffic light, for example, or make cycle or bus lanes.

The ETM project also includes a research aspect by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help manage the infrastructure. This could allow it to self-adapt to traffic conditions by synchronising intersections or to reach fluidification or pollutant emission objectives. In this context, on-board navigation systems in cars are also integrated as vectors of information about the infrastructure. Finally, interconnecting the system with the various transport offers (multimodal approach) could help to propose alternative solutions (tram, metro, pedestrian) to optimise users’ travel and alleviate congestion.

To support this project, ALTEN has partnered with institutional laboratories and also works with HERE, a technological partner and world leader in road mapping. ALTEN is also in contact with local authorities to make sure that the simulations are in phase with reality.