Nour-Eddin El Faouzi

Bio: Nour-Eddin El Faouzi is an academic researcher from University of Lyon. The author has contributed to research in topics: Traffic flow & Traffic simulation. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 81 publications receiving 1435 citations. Previous affiliations of Nour-Eddin El Faouzi include Queensland University of Technology & IFSTTAR.

How to assess the benefits of connected vehicles? A simulation framework for the design of cooperative traffic management strategies

Abstract: Advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) allow the transportation community to foresee dramatic improvements for the incoming years in terms of a more efficient, environmental friendly and safe traffic management. In that context, new ITS paradigms like Cooperative Systems (C-ITS) enable an efficient traffic state estimation and traffic control. C-ITS refers to three levels of cooperation between vehicles and infrastructure: (i) equipped vehicles with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) adjusting their motion to surrounding traffic conditions; (ii) information exchange with the infrastructure; (iii) vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Therefore, C-ITS makes it possible to go a step further in providing real time information and tailored control strategies to specific drivers. As a response to an expected increasing penetration rate of these systems, traffic managers and researchers have to come up with new methodologies that override the classic methods of traffic modeling and control. In this paper, we discuss some potentialities of C-ITS for traffic management with the methodological issues following the expansion of such systems. Cooperative traffic models are introduced into an open-source traffic simulator. The resulting simulation framework is robust and able to assess potential benefits of cooperative traffic control strategies in different traffic configurations.

Efficient Allocation of Electric Vehicles Charging Stations: Optimization Model and Application to a Dense Urban Network

Abstract: The deployment of Electric Vehicles (EVs) needs an optimized and cost-effective implementation of charging stations. As a decision support tool for network design, we define a methodology to allocate charging stations in a real network. This study uses trip OD matrix information from household travel survey coupled with a dynamic vehicle model to evaluate EVs consumption based on realistic trips (urban drive cycles). These trips are computed based on routing tools and supplied with elevation information. This enables an accurate characterization of energy needs in the Lyon Metropolitan Area. All these parameters are used as inputs of an integer linear optimization program for the location of charging stations. The methodology is based on an adaption of the classic fixed charge location model with a p-dispersion constraint. The results indicate that this methodology can help the future implementation of charging stations at an urban scale.

Linear and Weakly Nonlinear Stability Analyses of Cooperative Car-Following Models

Abstract: Stability analyses have been widely used to better understand the mechanism of traffic jam formation In this paper, we consider the impact of cooperative systems (aka connected vehicles) on traffic dynamics and, more precisely, on flow stability Cooperative systems are emerging technologies enabling communication between vehicles and/or with the infrastructure In a distributed communication framework, equipped vehicles are able to send and receive information to/from other equipped vehicles Here, the effects of cooperative traffic are modeled through a general bilateral multianticipative car-following law that improves cooperative drivers' perception of their surrounding traffic conditions within a given communication range Linear stability analyses are performed for a broad class of car-following models They point out different stability conditions in both multianticipative and nonmultianticipative situations To better understand what happens in unstable conditions, information on the shock wave structure is studied in the weakly nonlinear regime by the mean of the reductive perturbation method The shock wave equation is obtained for generic car-following models by deriving the Korteweg de Vries equations We then derive traffic-state-dependent conditions for the sign of the solitary wave (soliton) amplitude This analytical result is verified through simulations Simulation results confirm the validity of the speed estimate The variation of the soliton amplitude as a function of the communication range is provided The performed linear and weakly nonlinear analyses help justify the potential benefits of vehicle-integrated communication systems and provide new insights supporting the future implementation of cooperative systems

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Bluetooth Data: Application to a Large Urban Network

Abstract: The emergence of new technologies allows better monitoring of traffic conditions and understanding of urban network dynamics. Bluetooth technology is becoming widespread, as it represents a cost-effective means for capturing road traffic in both arterials and motorways. Although the extraction of travel time from Bluetooth data is fairly straightforward, data reliability and processing is still challenging with the issues of penetration rate, mode discrimination, and detection quality. This paper presents a methodological contribution to the use of Bluetooth data for the spatiotemporal analysis of a large urban network (Brisbane, Australia). It introduces the concept of the Bluetooth origin–destination (B-OD) matrix, which is built from a network of 79 Bluetooth detectors located within the Brisbane urban area. The B-OD matrix describes the dynamics of a subpopulation of vehicles, between pairs of detectors. The results show that the characteristics of urban networks can be effectively represented through B-OD matrices. A comparison with loop detector data enables an assessment of the results' significance. Then, the spatiotemporal structure of the network is analyzed with two different clustering analyses, namely, latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) and $K$ -means. While LDA is used to detect a temporal pattern, the $K$ -means algorithm highlights Bluetooth fundamental diagram (BFD) classes. The results show that Bluetooth data has the potential to be a reliable data source for traffic monitoring. By highlighting hidden structures of a large area, the algorithm outputs allow us to provide the road operators with a fine spatiotemporal analysis of their network, in terms of traffic conditions.

Short-term traffic forecasting: Where we are and where we’re going

Abstract: Since the early 1980s, short-term traffic forecasting has been an integral part of most Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) research and applications; most effort has gone into developing methodologies that can be used to model traffic characteristics and produce anticipated traffic conditions. Existing literature is voluminous, and has largely used single point data from motorways and has employed univariate mathematical models to predict traffic volumes or travel times. Recent developments in technology and the widespread use of powerful computers and mathematical models allow researchers an unprecedented opportunity to expand horizons and direct work in 10 challenging, yet relatively under researched, directions. It is these existing challenges that we review in this paper and offer suggestions for future work.

Big Data Analytics in Intelligent Transportation Systems: A Survey

Abstract: Big data is becoming a research focus in intelligent transportation systems (ITS), which can be seen in many projects around the world. Intelligent transportation systems will produce a large amount of data. The produced big data will have profound impacts on the design and application of intelligent transportation systems, which makes ITS safer, more efficient, and profitable. Studying big data analytics in ITS is a flourishing field. This paper first reviews the history and characteristics of big data and intelligent transportation systems. The framework of conducting big data analytics in ITS is discussed next, where the data source and collection methods, data analytics methods and platforms, and big data analytics application categories are summarized. Several case studies of big data analytics applications in intelligent transportation systems, including road traffic accidents analysis, road traffic flow prediction, public transportation service plan, personal travel route plan, rail transportation management and control, and assets maintenance are introduced. Finally, this paper discusses some open challenges of using big data analytics in ITS.

Labeled Random Finite Sets and the Bayes Multi-Target Tracking Filter

Abstract: An analytic solution to the multi-target Bayes recursion known as the $\delta $ -Generalized Labeled Multi-Bernoulli ( $\delta $ -GLMB) filter has been recently proposed by Vo and Vo in [“Labeled Random Finite Sets and Multi-Object Conjugate Priors,” IEEE Trans. Signal Process., vol. 61, no. 13, pp. 3460–3475, 2014]. As a sequel to that paper, the present paper details efficient implementations of the $\delta $ -GLMB multi-target tracking filter. Each iteration of this filter involves an update operation and a prediction operation, both of which result in weighted sums of multi-target exponentials with intractably large number of terms. To truncate these sums, the ranked assignment and K-th shortest path algorithms are used in the update and prediction, respectively, to determine the most significant terms without exhaustively computing all of the terms. In addition, using tools derived from the same framework, such as probability hypothesis density filtering, we present inexpensive (relative to the $\delta $ -GLMB filter) look-ahead strategies to reduce the number of computations. Characterization of the $L_{1}$ -error in the multi-target density arising from the truncation is presented.

Dissipation of stop-and-go waves via control of autonomous vehicles: Field experiments

Abstract: Traffic waves are phenomena that emerge when the vehicular density exceeds a critical threshold. Considering the presence of increasingly automated vehicles in the traffic stream, a number of research activities have focused on the influence of automated vehicles on the bulk traffic flow. In the present article, we demonstrate experimentally that intelligent control of an autonomous vehicle is able to dampen stop-and-go waves that can arise even in the absence of geometric or lane changing triggers. Precisely, our experiments on a circular track with more than 20 vehicles show that traffic waves emerge consistently, and that they can be dampened by controlling the velocity of a single vehicle in the flow. We compare metrics for velocity, braking events, and fuel economy across experiments. These experimental findings suggest a paradigm shift in traffic management: flow control will be possible via a few mobile actuators (less than 5%) long before a majority of vehicles have autonomous capabilities.