A Study Of TomTom’s Probe Vehicle Data With Threephase Traffic Theory

Abstract

In this article, TomTom’s GPS and GSM (Vodafone data) probe vehicle data that are used in TomTom’s HD-traffic for vehicle navigation are analysed. We find that the data allows us to reconstruct the structure of traffic patterns with a much greater quality of spatiotemporal resolution than has been possible before. What occurs is that congested traffic in measured traffic patterns consists of two traffic phases of Kerner’s three-phase theory, synchronised flow and wide moving jams. We show that TomTom’s probe vehicle data opens qualitative new perspectives for the creation of many new ITS applications such as traffic jam warning, input data for traffic control, hybrid vehicle strategies, fuel consumption reduction, etc. TomTom’s probe vehicle data processed using the methodology of the three-phase theory provide a basis for the reconstruction of a fine spatiotemporal structure of traffic congestion with a high quality resolution of traffic phases. Additionally, TomTom’s probe vehicle data can be efficiently used as an empirical basis of traffic research and engineering.