Geographic Information System For The

Management Of Traffic In The Medellin´s

Mobility Department

Juan Manuel Restrepo

Planning Analyst
Sistemas Inteligentes en Red S.A.S
Colombia
jrestrepo@sistemasinteligentesenred.com.co

Abstract—From 2011, XM Intelligent Management Real Time Systems, subsidiary of ISA, operation has started the operation of
Traffic Control Center of Medellin, through the newly created company Sistemas Inteligentes en Red S.A.S. For the effective
implementation of this work, it requires constant monitoring and clear of all elements involved in the vehicular traffic in the city.
This task was made for several years with independent information systems that did not permit a complete and fast display of all
elements. Additionally they were not georeferenced. What made it difficult decisions for the operator to the large amount of
information handled in this process. This paper presents an information system addition to integrate and synthesize all the
information, it presents in a georeferenced map of Medellin. The new system show the location of the traffic agents, traffic
incidents, the red light cameras, video analytics, The Weather Network Early Warning System of Medellin (SIATA), programmed
road closures and variable message signals VMS, they allow a fast understanding of the events on ways, and therefore timely
execution of procedures in transit operation.

The system was implemented in Arcgis Online, in addition to the above benefits, was the benchmark and starting point in the
implementation of the new traffic management center HERMES.

The advantage geographical in handling information and decisions, it represents to the Control Center key benefits for circulation
in terms of lower response times and traffic incidents in the dynamic and online guidance to users of the road network, finally
resulting in the improvement mobility of the city.

Keywords — Geographic Information System, traffic control center, geographical advantage.

sources, the organization of information for use in the

I. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this document is: to explain the
operation of the geographic information system
developed for improving the operation of the Traffic
Control Center of Medellin.
Contextualize initially on geographic information
systems, their benefits and how they are used to manage
traffic and transport information in other cities,
emphasizing the interactive maps that present
information on the web and which served as a reference
for the development of this system.
Next , it will be described some of the characteristics of
the information used in the traffic control center, and
how the geographic component is used as an integrator.
management of their processes as published information
in geo referenced map services through the web.
Finally it will show the benefits of the application in the
management operation of the center and the geographic
solution design, implemented for the new central traffic
management system HERMES.
II. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
SYSTEMS (G.I.S).
A geographic information system (GIS) is a system for
management, analysis and visualization of geographic
knowledge that it is structured in different sets of
information and interactive maps, geographic data,
geoprocessing models and data models [1]

It will present the development of interactive operation

as the main element of geographical information system The main advantage of the GIS information systems
GIS, describing the capture process data from different comes from the geographic not decrease the time
required for geographical decisions as a map to identify
information that is hidden to the naked eye in traditional
information systems [2].
The main disadvantage of geographic information
systems is the high cost of implementation and
operation, compared with the cost of a non-geographic
information system.
Before implementing a GIS company ESRI organization
recommended that a cost-benefit analysis where
calculating the return over investment ROI [3]
Generally the applications to manage geographic
information have high cost compared with others
information systems, in our case the geographic
information is based, liked maps of roads, city blocks,
interest sites, semaphore, controlled parking zones and
other similar information we use from geographic web
services of third people, in some cases, and from
information given for the Municipality of Medellin. This
makes that the company assume, only, the geographic
applications, so it takes advantage of this and it chosen
for managing a geographic information system.
III. GIS APPLICATIONS OF TRANSPORT
AND TRAFFIC.
In Arcgis.com [4] one of the most important portals of
business geographics services, many cities around the
world publish interactive maps with information of
transport and transit. This maps search to guide the
roads users and inform them about the principal
elements that are involved in the circulation: routes of
transportation systems, traffic accidents, maintenance
roads, level of service or congestion on the roads,
location of photo cameras detection, location and
pictures of television cameras, location of traffic
counters, traffic signals, weather conditions, among
others.
All this information identified spatially and presented in
maps services allow to the user invest less time to find
the necessary for taking a better decision in his
displacement. So that to share this information
optimally, the person is encouraged for using better the
road network, what is understood like acting over
demand network.
All this geographic content of the transport and transit
network is published in different officials and no
officials interest groups, however for ensuring reliability
to the user, transit agents who are responsibles for
administration, the information shares in authorized
standard web services and the companys like Google,
Microsoft, Yahoo, Esri it distributes in their maps .
Once here the final user or traveler can consult in a
range of standard web browsers, mobile devices on
board a vehicle and personals mobile devices like
Smartphones.
The administration of this geographic content is
commonly done in traffic control centers, also publish
information of public interest in the web, monitor and
manage roads events such as maintenance, traffic
congestion and incidents. In the Traffic Control Center
in London uses a map to represent the levels of service
roads and predict possible events and incidents in
accordance with changes in service levels, besides
coordinating traffic police to manage traffic from roads.
[5]
I. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT CONTROL IN
TRANSIT CENTER OF MEDELLIN.
Big part of the information used in the control center
can be seen through a geographical map because it
comes from the record of an event that happens
somewhere in the city, this place is identified with an
address that is converted into coordinates for
management on a map. The coordinate system is
handled WGS_84 "World Standard System" and not
MAGNA - SIRGAS "Official System in Colombia", for
the ease of finding information WGS_84 this system
was used, however it has a goal to migrate MAGNA –
SIRGAS.
In operation of the traffic control center the applications
are handled to follow geographical maps or services:
x Map for visualizing locations transit vehicles.
x Map to identify the locations of traffic incidents.
x Map to show the weather
x Map to display the location of peripherals such as
digital cameras detection, CCTV and VMS.
To provide the operator managing geographic
information is beginning to develop a map that
integrates the main services of these applications.
II. INTEGRATED OPERATION MAP
It is a web application that uses a web server "Apache"
in-network or network operating real time, a database
"mysql" and the programming language "PHP" to
communicate the browser with databases and other
sources. APPSERV application was installed and it
integrates these tools.
For each source of information was developed an
application to extract, transform and load (in English
Extract, Transform abbreviated ETL) data. This
application is a website prepared to consult the relevant
information for each component and then organizing it
in geographical points, each point consists of:
x Geographical coordinates of its location on the
map.
x The web address of the image or icon that
represents it.
x Information window in HTML with the information
you want to display when operating by clicking the
icon on the map.
After organizing information on icons, these icons are
exported to KML "Keyhole Markup Language" JSON
"JavaScript Object Notation" or CSV "comma-separated
values" to multiple flat files with web addresses ready to
be read by services maps.
The web map services more representative of the market
are ESRI and Google, which are able to load the
information posted on public Web addresses.
The operation map contains the following components.
x Traffic Incidents: About 500 transit applications are
reported by the community to the only one
emergency line 123, these are digitized and
recorded in a database in Microsoft SQL Server.
This recorded information is offered through the
ODBC standard "Open DataBase Connectivity" so
to access this information was developed to extract
and process application traffic incidents every three
minutes. Of each incident is extracted the date and
time of creation, direction, coordinates, traffic
officer assigned to its care. After extraction,
processing and publication in the map, the operator
can know the location of the incident on the map,
their response time and attention, which helps
identify process delays.
x Vehicles: 237 vehicles, among motorcycles, trucks,
cranes and trucks, it sends each minute, through a
device on board their location. These locations
treated as events or records in a database are
managed by the solution provider company who
processes them and provides a query interface
WSDL "Web Services Description Language". The
developed application consumes WSLD asking the
last reported location of each vehicle. With this
information on the map, the operator can know
quickly, where vehicles are assigned to the care of
incidents and vehicles assigned to traffic control,
and also send timely the application to the attention
of an incident. Additionally the application added a
short summary of the number of incidents attended
during the day, with the respective average
response time and attention, what it helps to
understand the level of service in the course of the
day.
x Weather Network: The early warning system od
Medellin monitors water level of precipitation
Metropolitan, through a network of 59 weather
stations reporting every 5 minutes recorded rainfall
level and water level of seven rivers or streams .
From these measurements the SIATA published on
the web a KML file, which contains information for
each station, its coordinates, the web address of an
icon that varies according to the level of
precipitation in the last five minutes, and the details
monitoring station. The operator, to be aware of the
levels of rainfall in real time and know there is a
high level of rainfall, is prepared to support the
management of a possible flood or overflow of a
river.
x Scheduled road closures: About 15 road closures
are authorized weekly by STTM community or
interest groups with reasons for community events,
marches, and maintenance work on roads, among
others. Each seal has a description, location, start
date and end date. These closures are registered in
the database and the map is responsible for
publishing only the current closures. Knowing the
closures on the map allows the operator to
determine if congestion is detected are generated
for nearby closures at these.
x Peripherals: 22 variable message signals, 48
cameras CCTV, 200 security cameras, 45 digital
cameras for detection are published on the map,
each one in a text icon with its own identification
code and color. For the management of incidents,
the operator has the ability to learn quickly what
cameras have around the incident that would yield
the characteristics of the incident and the impact of
the incident to mobility, and to know if there is a
variable message panel near, it will expedite the
work of reporting on the service level of the road.
TABLE 1 Icons, by component type and description
icons are used in the operation map.
TABLE 1 ICONS, BY COMPONENT TYPE AND DESCRIPTION
Icono Tipo Descripción
Traffic incident pending
Incident assignment of a traffic policeman
does "min" minutes.
Traffic incident which goes a
Incident traffic officer for "min" minutes.
Traffic incident is being treated
by a traffic cop for "min" minutes
Incident
Traffic incident is being treated in
Incident a hospital "Hospital <Hmin>"
does "min" minutes
 Icono Tipo Descripción ILLUSTRATION 1 SAMPLE IMAGE OPERATING MAP
Precipitation Low to 0.254mm
SIATA Station

Precipitation between 0.254mm

SIATA Station and 6mm
Precipitation between 6mm and
SIATA Station 8mm
Precipitation between 8mm and
SIATA Station 10mm
Precipitation exceeding 10mm
SIATA Station

No communication station in the

SIATA Station last minutes
No communication station in the
SIATA Station last hour

Closing scheduled Closing scheduled

Vehicle available for incident
Vehicle
response
Vehicle Regulating vehicle via Source 2 Author
Security Camera number "Id"
Security camera
security service in Medellin In Figure 1 SAMPLE IMAGE OPERATING MAP
Traffic Camera “Id” Traffic Camera shows a traffic incident that is waiting to be treated for
Red Light Camera “Id” Red Light Camera 103 minutes on Tenerife 58th Street, near the chamber
Metro bus system Metro station bus system 13, where you can visualize and understand the level of
variable message “Id” variable message signal
affectation caused to the movement, in case that will
signal affect circulation, was issued a message on the VMS #6
SIATA Station
Level monitoring station located on Carrera 57 and Calle 55. Also may be
Medellín River Flow affecting Metro plus route "blue line", near the place it
is not raining and 103 minutes attending an incident is
Source 1 Author
high time compared with the 86 incidents attended on
May 11, 2012 with an average time of care 29 minutes.
The files generated for each component are integrated
into a single file that is posted on the web. Using the
In the implementation of the new traffic management
tools for custom mapping as "Google Maps API" or
system HERMES, it changed a static map for a local
"ArcGIS Online", it developed an application that will
server standard maps that allowed customizing the
take care of every minute to read this file and present it
styles of icons, dynamic icons, adding layers, connected
in a map. Also it presentes in the top of the map the
with external maps as SIATA Weather Network and
summary of the operation of the day, the number of
managing information like layers from the same map
incidents, the average time that the traffic police are
that will activate and deactivated to the users.
slow to get to attend the incidence and the average time
it takes to address the incidence.
III. CONCLUSIONS AND
Below is presented in Figure 1 SAMPLE IMAGE RECOMMENDATIONS
OPERATING MAP, a sample application developed
This article is recommended to improve the
using Google Maps API.
functionality of existing geographic information
systems in traffic management processes and transport,
and to help define technical requirements in application
development geographic information systems.

x The costs of implementing a geographic business

processes are dwindling.
x It is recommended to use standards for sharing
geographic information with stakeholders.
x It is recommended to take advantage of the graphics
layer styles presented in the map easier to read the
information.
x To present important information to the operator on
a map is recommended to show only the critical
moments in which you must perform some action in
a process.
x Is not recommended managing, only, external base
maps without warranty of high service availability,
however we recommend you to use a map server
technology within the infrastructure company.

IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

[1] ESRI, Que es un Sig [online]. Mayo 2012, [citado

mayo de 2012]:
http://www.esri.es/es/formacion/que-es-un-sig-
[2] PROCALCULOPROSIS, Beneficios de un SIG
[online]. Mayo 2012, [citado mayo de 2012]:
http://www.procalculoprosis.com/Paginas-
informativas-(1)/Beneficios-del-un-SIG.aspx
[3] ESRI, The Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI
Approach [online]. Mayo 2012, [citado mayo de
2012]: http://roi.esri.com/
[4] ESRI, Featured Maps and Apps [online]. Mayo
2012, [citado mayo de 2012]:
http://www.arcgis.com/home/gallery.html
[5] NEIL BARTON, Transport For London - Real Time
Traffic Management Operations [online]. Febrero
2005, [citado mayo de 2012]:
http://www.etcproceedings.org/paper/transport-for-
london-real-time-traffic-management-operations
[6] SIATA, Red Pluviométrica [online]. Mayo 2012,
[citado mayo de 2012]: www.siata.gov.co