SOLVING TRAFFIC CONGESTION USING VEHICLE GROUPING

• US 20140074389A1
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Published: 03/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Alpert, Charles Jay, Li, Zhuo, Sze, Chin Ngai, Wei, Yaoguang
• Granted Patent: US 8,831,875 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/118
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 9/00 Traffic control systems for craft where the kind of craft is irrelevant or unspecified

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program product for solving a traffic congestion problem are provided in the illustrative embodiments. Using an application executing using a processor and a memory in a data processing system, a congested route section is selected from a set of congested route sections. A set of congesting vehicles is selected, where the set of congesting vehicles cause congestion in the selected congested route sections by being positioned on the selected congested route section. A vacancy data structure corresponding to the selected congested route section is populated. A subset of the set of the congesting vehicles is selected. The subset of the set of the congesting vehicles is rerouted to a candidate route section identified in the vacancy data structure.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for solving a traffic congestion problem, the method comprising:

selecting, using an application executing using a processor and a memory in a data processing system, a congested route section from a set of congested route sections;

selecting a set of congesting vehicles, wherein the set of congesting vehicles causes congestion in the selected congested route sections by being positioned on the selected congested route section;

populating a vacancy data structure corresponding to the selected congested route section;

selecting a subset of the set of the congesting vehicles; and

rerouting the subset of the set of the congesting vehicles to a candidate route section identified in the vacancy data structure.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the rerouting the subset omits evaluating a possibility of moving a congesting vehicle in the subset to a neighboring route section of the selected congested route section because the neighboring route section is not identified in the vacancy data structure, further comprising:

rerouting a second subset of the set of the congesting vehicles to a second candidate route section identified in the vacancy data structure.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a congesting vehicle in the subset is causing congestion in a route section neighboring the selected congested route section; and

skipping, responsive to the determining being affirmative, the route section neighboring the selected congested route section for the rerouting.

4. The computer implemented method of claims 1, wherein the populating comprises:

identifying, in the vacancy data structure, the candidate route section neighboring the selected congested route section such that a direction of the candidate route section relative to the selected congested route section corresponds to an orientation of the selected congested route section;

recording in the vacancy data structure a distance between the candidate route section and the selected congested route section; and

recording in the vacancy data structure a number of available empty tracks in the candidate route section.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the set of congesting vehicles from a set of vehicles positioned on the selected congested route section, wherein the set of congesting vehicles is a subset of the set of vehicles, and wherein the selecting employs a selection criterion.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5, wherein the selection criterion for selecting the set of congesting vehicles causes that vehicle in the set of vehicles to be selected as a congesting vehicle whose route length is shorter than a route-length bound by a threshold value.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying the set of congested route sections; and

sorting the set of congested route sections.

8. A computer usable program product comprising a computer usable storage medium including computer usable code for solving a traffic congestion problem, the computer usable code comprising:

computer usable code for selecting, using an application executing using a processor and a memory in a data processing system, a congested route section from a set of congested route sections;

computer usable code for selecting a set of congesting vehicles, wherein the set of congesting vehicles causes congestion in the selected congested route sections by being positioned on the selected congested route section;

computer usable code for populating a vacancy data structure corresponding to the selected congested route section;

computer usable code for selecting a subset of the set of the congesting vehicles; and

computer usable code for rerouting the subset of the set of the congesting vehicles to a candidate route section identified in the vacancy data structure.

9. The computer usable program product of claim 8, wherein the rerouting the subset omits evaluating a possibility of moving a congesting vehicle in the subset to a neighboring route section of the selected congested route section because the neighboring route section is not identified in the vacancy data structure, further comprising:

computer usable code for rerouting a second subset of the set of the congesting vehicles to a second candidate route section identified in the vacancy data structure.

10. The computer usable program product of claim 8, further comprising:

computer usable code for determining whether a congesting vehicle in the subset is causing congestion in a route section neighboring the selected congested route section; and

computer usable code for skipping, responsive to the determining being affirmative, the route section neighboring the selected congested route section for the rerouting.

11. The computer usable program product of claims 8, wherein the populating comprises:

computer usable code for identifying, in the vacancy data structure, the candidate route section neighboring the selected congested route section such that a direction of the candidate route section relative to the selected congested route section corresponds to an orientation of the selected congested route section;

computer usable code for recording in the vacancy data structure a distance between the candidate route section and the selected congested route section; and

computer usable code for recording in the vacancy data structure a number of available empty tracks in the candidate route section.

12. The computer usable program product of claim 8, further comprising:

computer usable code for selecting the set of congesting vehicles from a set of vehicles positioned on the selected congested route section, wherein the set of congesting vehicles is a subset of the set of vehicles, and wherein the selecting employs a selection criterion.

13. The computer usable program product of claim 12, wherein the selection criterion for selecting the set of congesting vehicles causes that vehicle in the set of vehicles to be selected as a congesting vehicle whose route length is shorter than a route-length bound by a threshold value.

14. The computer usable program product of claim 8, further comprising:

computer usable code for identifying the set of congested route sections; and

sorting the set of congested route sections.

15. The computer usable program product of claim 8, wherein the computer usable code is stored in a computer readable storage medium in a data processing system, and wherein the computer usable code is transferred over a network from a remote data processing system.

16. The computer usable program product of claim 8, wherein the computer usable code is stored in a computer readable storage medium in a server data processing system, and wherein the computer usable code is downloaded over a network to a remote data processing system for use in a computer readable storage medium associated with the remote data processing system.

17. A data processing system for solving a traffic congestion problem, the data processing system comprising:

a storage device including a storage medium, wherein the storage device stores computer usable program code; and

a processor, wherein the processor executes the computer usable program code, and wherein the computer usable program code comprises;

computer usable code for selecting, using an application executing using a processor and a memory in a data processing system, a congested route section from a set of congested route sections;

computer usable code for selecting a set of congesting vehicles, wherein the set of congesting vehicles causes congestion in the selected congested route sections by being positioned on the selected congested route section;

computer usable code for populating a vacancy data structure corresponding to the selected congested route section;

computer usable code for selecting a subset of the set of the congesting vehicles; and

computer usable code for rerouting the subset of the set of the congesting vehicles to a candidate route section identified in the vacancy data structure.

18. The data processing system of claim 17, wherein the rerouting the subset omits evaluating a possibility of moving a congesting vehicle in the subset to a neighboring route section of the selected congested route section because the neighboring route section is not identified in the vacancy data structure, further comprising:

computer usable code for rerouting a second subset of the set of the congesting vehicles to a second candidate route section identified in the vacancy data structure.

19. The data processing system of claim 17, further comprising:

computer usable code for determining whether a congesting vehicle in the subset is causing congestion in a route section neighboring the selected congested route section; and

computer usable code for skipping, responsive to the determining being affirmative, the route section neighboring the selected congested route section for the rerouting.

20. The data processing system of claims 17, wherein the populating comprises:

computer usable code for identifying, in the vacancy data structure, the candidate route section neighboring the selected congested route section such that a direction of the candidate route section relative to the selected congested route section corresponds to an orientation of the selected congested route section;

computer usable code for recording in the vacancy data structure a distance between the candidate route section and the selected congested route section; and

computer usable code for recording in the vacancy data structure a number of available empty tracks in the candidate route section.