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An Intelligent Road Traffic Management System Based on a Human

Community Genetic Algorithm

Conference Paper · April 2019

DOI: 10.1109/JEEIT.2019.8717388

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2019 IEEE Jordan International Joint Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (JEEIT)
2019 IEEE Jordan International Joint Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (JEEIT)
An Intelligent Road Traffic Management System
Based on a Human Community Genetic Algorithm
1st Adnan A. Hnaif 2ed Nagham AL-Madi
Computer Science Software Engineering
Al-ZAytoonah University of Al-ZAytoonah University of
Jordan Jordan
Jordan Jordan
adnan_hnaif@zuj.edu.jo nagham.a@zuj.edu.jo
Abstract—Traffic congestions recognized as a significant
problem in modern urban cities. Jordan considered as one of the
top countries worldwide in terms of frequency of traffic
accidents where the increase in the number of vehicles had led
to the rise in the number of traffic incidents, involving the
increase in fatalities and injuries, but the fixed timers still
control the current traffic signals system in Jordan. In this
paper, an Intelligent Road Traffic Management System based
on Human Community Genetic Algorithm (IRTMS) proposed.
The IRTMS compared with the current traffic system in the
Hashmet Kingdom of Jordan, which concludes that it has the
minimum total time and waiting time compared with the
current traffic lights system.
Keywords— Traffic Congestion, Intelligent Road Traffic
Management System, Human Community Genetic Algorithm.
I. INTRODUCTION
The smart city concept began in the early 1990s with the
rise of new technologies transportation and communication,
such as mobiles, wireless networks, Global Poisoning System
(GPS), and the Internet of Things (IoT) [1]. These are
examples of the main concepts of the smart city.
Organizations and government agencies began using these
new technologies to enhance the quality of life, and to provide
efficient mobility of people and goods [2] [3] [4]. In the past
few years, the number of the vehicle has increased
considerably [5]. According to the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS) in 2017, there are more than 254 million
registered passenger vehicles in the USA [2].
In particular, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has the
same problem with the increase in the number of vehicles as
the latest statistics mentioned that the number of registered
vehicles data reported at 1,583,318.000 Unit in Dec 2017 [6].
There are a lot of software programs that can be used to
retime traffic signals to alleviate congestion and delays within
the road network. These programs commonly used for straight
traffics. However, this conventional type of traffics is not able
to face the challenge incurred in urban areas with a high
number of traffic signals. In other words, changing the traffic
conditions requires more research effort to reduce the amount
of trip time, and to reduce the number of traffic signals [7].
Current research on these problems should focus on solving
traffic congestion, particularly, during peak times [4]. Hence,
this research proposes a system that integrates the use of the
Human Community-based Genetic Algorithm [8] [9] to
reduce the encountered roadway traffic lights within a
particular city.
978-1-5386-7942-5/19/$31.00 ©2019
978-1-5386-7942-5/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE IEEE
3rd Mohammad Abduljawad 4th Amal Ahmad
Computer Science Computer and Communication
Al-ZAytoonah University of Engineering
Jordan Al-ZAytoonah University of
Jordan Jordan
m.abduljawad@zuj.edu.jo Jordan
Amal.Q@zuj.edu.jo
A. Traffic Congestion Problem
Traffic congestion is a condition which occurs on the
transportation networks when demand increases and
characterized by a reduction in speeds, and consequently, an
increase in the trip time that leads to long vehicular queuing
lines.
Many solutions are proposed and are applied to solve the
traffic congestion problem [10]. Some of these solutions
focus on dynamic control signals to solve the traffic
congestion problem in an isolated intersection [11]. It is
highly essential to make sure that traffic signals are
interacting with each other in the road network [12]. In other
words, Fuzzy logic signal controllers use a set of rules that
can determine the preferred action of a traffic signal based on
some inputs that are set by the user [13]. While the research
shows that these methods are capable of an effective control
within small networks, the use of a static rule-base means that
further updates to the system required over time. Further, as
noted by [14], it is difficult to generate an effective rule-base,
particularly, for complex intersections containing a high
number of possible phases [15].
The traffic signals are not capable of solving the problem
of congestion by using the same techniques [11]. Hence, it
becomes necessary to develop intelligent traffic signals that
can overcome traffic congestion. Furthermore, traffic
congestion also causes higher noise and pollutant levels that
are considered to be harmful to people and the environment.
B. Traffic Congestions Problem in Jordan
Most cities expanded around the ancient centers which did
not account for the rapid increase in the transportation demand
[16]. In Jordan, the increase in the number of vehicles has led
to an increase in the number of traffic causing many severe
traffic incidents, which involved the increase in fatalities and
injuries [4]. Unfortunately, Jordan considered as one of the top
countries worldwide in terms of the frequency of traffic
incidents [6]. The current traffic signals system in Jordan is
still using fixed timers.
C. The Human Community Based Genetic Algorithm
The reason behind concentrating on the Human
Community Based Genetic Algorithm in [8] is that this model
is understandable in terms of the way the genetic algorithm
has the possibility of managing the issue of traffic signals
congestion and its fast processing speed.
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2019 IEEE Jordan International Joint Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (JEEIT)
The genetic algorithm chooses the fittest (the best choice)
chromosome of a given randomly generated population,
which consists of many solutions for complicated problems
[8] [9] [17].
Accordance to the traffic signals congestions, the fittest
choice (the best priority choice of that number of vehicles in
a part of the intersection, can be selected by a built-in street
camera, from a high given random number of vehicles in the
entire traffic light intersection (i.e., random populations as
per) to the genetic algorithm principle) are provided with
many proposed solutions that can overcome the issues
encountered from the basis with the high number of moving
vehicles.
In other words, to comply with the Human Community
Based Genetic Algorithm in [8], the given random number of
vehicles of an intersection represents the concept of a given
random number of chromosomes within a population.
II. RELATED WORKS
The main problem encountered in the optimal control
traffic lights at the crossroads, or many other places.
Intersections which can regulate the traffic flow of vehicles
and can eliminate conflicting traffic flows that used are
important elements of the urban traffic network. As bad as
traffic lights controlled, they lead to cause severe traffic
congestions [18]. Therefore, one of the most challenging
issues in the field of traffic lights is to control and to manage
the traffic going through. Optimal timing of urban
intersection traffic lights with intelligent and advanced
installation and reduced delay, queue length, stop vehicles,
resulting in reduced fuel consumption and mitigate the effects
of pollution and environmental degradation due to excessive
stopping vehicles is a traffic light intersection.
In practice, Jordan suffers from a serious road safety
problem that must have more attention from the decision
makers [6]. The magnitude of the problem requires the
researchers and the decision makers to provide approaches
that can reduce the overall number and severity of incidents.
Nevertheless, the implementation of the roadway safety
measures interacts with a lot in various stakeholders with a
multitude of interests leading to the development of what
termed the “Best Practice” strategy for roadway safety. [19]
elaborate on the concept of this strategy. Besides, this
strategy presents the number of roadway safety, which
measures and assesses them to identify the most promising
sets of investments under the Jordanian roadway and traffic
conditions. The assessment process is facilitated based on the
use of some developed selections where the measures ranked
in the final output of their study that provides all parties
involved in the traffic roadway safety. This based on a best
practice guide and a comprehensive roadway safety strategy
to assist them in their initial strategic choice of the cost-
effective investments that aim at improving road safety.
A simple system was proposed to count the number of
vehicles on each traffic light intersection using an infrared
sensor, and also take the length of the vehicles into account.
The purpose of the proposed system is to statistic and obtain
the number of vehicles on the traffic light and its direction
[23].
356
III. IRTMS METHODOLOGY
The intersection is an area shared by two or more roads.
The aim of traffic signals system retiming is to respond to the
demands of all types of vehicles.
When a traffic state is represented based on traffic
measurements, several traffic variables used for describing
such a traffic state, accordingly, this section introduces a brief
description of the most important traffic parameters
(variables). In particular, parameters can mainly classified as
measurements of the quantity, which includes density and
vehicle flow. IRTMS focused on three essential
characteristics, which based on the macroscopic parameters.
These comprise; the mean speed, traffic flow, and traffic
density.
A. Mean Speed
The mean speed of vehicles is another important measure
that can assess the traffic situation. The mean speed of
vehicles defined as the average speeds of all vehicles passing
a certain point (the sensor) on the road over a specified period
expressed in kilometers per hour (km/h) [22]. The mean
speed can be measured (e.g., using radar guns or speed
camera) for each lane separately or all the lanes together. It
considered as a quality measurement of travel that defined as
the rate of motion in the distance per unit of time. The
mathematical mean speed is given by Formula (1) as follows:
𝑑
𝑆= (1)
𝑡
Where S denotes to the speed of the vehicle in meter per
second, d denotes to the distance traveled in meters, t
denotes to the time in seconds [20].
B. Traffic Density
Traffic density defined as the number of vehicles on a
given length of road at a certain instant time. It is expressed in
vehicles per kilometers per lane (veh./km/lane). The sum of
the lane traffic densities represents the total traffic density
resulted in the roadway. The traffic density is very commonly
used as a traffic measure since it provides a better indication
of the traffic flow quality rather than providing the traffic flow
and mean speed [21]. As for Formula (2), where the length of
road x counts the number of vehicles 𝑥𝑛 , and the density K.
The density has an importance that is the same importance of
the flow, but from a different angle. It is one of the most
measurements that is directly related to the traffic demand. In
particular, it measures the proximity of vehicles in the stream,
which in turn affects the freedom to ensure a manoeuvre and
a comfortable driving. The traffic capacity is an important
evaluation index of the degree of saturation at an intersection.
𝑥𝑛
𝐾𝑡 = (2)
𝑥
IRTMS aims to manage road traffic signals, which based
on the priority for each traffic signal on the intersection, which
taken into account based on different parameters, such as the
number of vehicles, road density. The vehicle's number is
assumed to be counted by a camera (See Fig. 1) to use it in the
human community-based genetic algorithm, which decides in
the intersection.
The intelligent traffic lights management system, based on
the human community genetic algorithm [2], which created to
solve all of these complexities and issues in MATLAB.
2019 IEEE Jordan International Joint Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (JEEIT)

flow among the intersections. The results prove the efficiency

Fig. 1: The number of vehicles counted by a smart camera.
This research uses the collected traffic data by cameras tod)
optimize the traffic signals and to provide real-world results.
The traffic signal scheduling is inflexible and produces traffic
problems. Therefore, a flexible algorithm must be utilized to
adapt to the changing environment, which is efficient in most
situations.
IRTMS can work as follows: each intersection connected
with its own camera, where this camera collects the traffic data
(number of vehicles on the road), as shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2: Vehicle counting phases
After that, the collected traffic data will send the input data
to the Human Community Genetic Algorithm so that it can to
take action (output). This procedure performed by the priority
of the traffic parameters to open this road, particularly, by
switching the traffic signal light from red to green, or by
providing it with another green-round slot. The priority of the
roads considers the macroscopic parameters, which comprise:
Mean Speed, Traffic Density and Traffic Flow (or Volume).
of IRTMS. IRTMS works as following:
Input; ID, S_ID, current vehicles, expected vehicle, expected
arrival time, the total number of vehicles (Traffic data).
Output; creating safe intersections.
Procedure;
1. Initialize the traffic signals.
2. Collecting traffic data by the smart camera.
If (traffic data received from the neighbors), then:
a) Recalculate the traffic data and priorities.
b) Compare the priorities of the human community
genetic algorithm.
c) Initialize the timers and take up a decision according
to the priorities.
Send the decision output to their neighbor’s intersections by
IRTMS.
Else
a) Initialize the timers and decide according to the priorities.
b) Send the decision output to their neighbor’s intersections
by IRTMS.
End;
3. Compute the waiting time
Waiting time= required time – total time
End;
The code implemented on a personal computer with a 2.70
GHz Intel (R) core (TM) i7 CPU, and 8 GB RAM. Windows
7 operating system uses in the 64-bit version.
This section addresses two scenarios to describe the
performance of the IRTMS according to the following rules:
1. The traffic signal takes a maximum of 20 seconds to pass
its vehicles.
2. Each vehicle takes 0.5 seconds to pass the signal.
3. Two rounds are the maximum waiting rounds for each
signal.
4. The number of the vehicle for each traffic signal included
in Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 for each scenario.
Comparisons between the total time and the waiting time
according to the number of vehicles in the IRTMS of the first
and second scenario see Table 2:
TABLE 2. Comparisons of the total time and the waiting time according to
the number of vehicles in IRTMS of the first scenario
Traffic Number Number of Vehicles Total Time (sec) Waiting Time (sec)

In the Human Community Genetic Algorithm, the 1 70 65 30

chromosome represents the genomic information and 2 45 77.5 55

3 30 55 40
additional attributes that would help in simulating the human
4 10 60 55
community behavior. Table 1 illustrates the genetic
representation.
As observed in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, the results show that the
TABLE 1: The traffic data Representation
performance of the intersections of the first scenario, from
priority to traffic number influences the total time and the
ID S_ID
Current Expected Expected Total number of Fittest waiting time.
vehicles vehicle arrival time vehicle selection For 70 vehicles, the total time reaches up to 56 seconds,
and the waiting time reaches up to 30 seconds. The waiting
time calculated as shown in Equation 3.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND ANALYSIS Waiting time=required time-total time………… (3)
An evaluation, which based on a real-time simulation
utilizes the Human Community Based Genetic Algorithm
presented. As mentioned previously, the main objective of
IRTMS is to build an intelligent traffic management system to
solve the traffic congestion problem by managing the vehicles

357
2019 IEEE Jordan International Joint Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (JEEIT)

Fig. 3: The waiting run time (sec) according to the number of vehicles in Figure 6: The waiting time (sec) in IRTMS according to the number of
IRTMS. vehicles in the second scenario

Comparisons between IRTMS and the current system

according to the total time and the waiting time:
This section describes the performance of IRTMS in the two
scenarios; the total time and the waiting time. Next, a
description of how this system runs faster than the current
system through the below comparisons is conducted from the
first scenario and along to the second scenario.
As shown in Fig. 7, Proposed Intelligent Road Traffic
Management System is more effective than the current
system, where the total time in the IRTMS for 70 vehicles
reaches up to 65 seconds. On the other hand, the total time in
Fig. 4: The total running time (sec) according to the number of vehicles in the current system for 70 vehicles reaches up to 100 seconds.
IRTMS
Consequently, this implies that IRTMS is more effective than
the current system.
Comparisons of the total time and the waiting time according
to the number of vehicles in the IRTMS in the second
scenario see Table 3:
TABLE 3. Comparisons of the total time and the waiting time according to
the number of vehicles in IRTMS in the second scenario
Traffic Number of Total Time Waiting Time
Number Vehicles (sec) (sec)
1 70 55 20
2 45 57.5 35
3 0 0 0
4 0 0 0

Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 show that the sufficient results of the total
time and the waiting time. When the intersection has 70 Fig. 7: Comparisons between the IRTMS and the current system
vehicles, the total time consumed for the signal performance according to the total time in the first scenario
reaches up to 55 seconds, and the waiting time for these
vehicles reaches up to 20 seconds. As shown in Fig. 8, the waiting time for 70 vehicles
reaches up to 30 seconds in IRTMS, while in the current
system, the waiting time reaches up to 65 seconds for 70
vehicles. The obtained results implies that IRTMS is more
effective than the current system.

Fig. 5: The total time (sec) in IRTMS according to the number of vehicles
in the second scenario

Fig. 8: Comparisons between IRTMS and the current system according to

the waiting time in the first scenario

358
2019 IEEE Jordan International Joint Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (JEEIT)

As shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10, the total time and waiting
time for IRTMS is more effective than the current system in
the two mentioned scenarios. The total time for IRTMS in the
second scenario for 70 vehicles reached up to 65 seconds, and
for the current system it reached up to 100 seconds.
Therefore, this system is more effective than the current
system in the total time case. The waiting time for IRTMS
reaches up to 20 seconds for 70 vehicles and reaches up to 65
seconds for the current system leading this system to be more
effective than the current system in the waiting time case.
form the basis of improvements in practice in Jordan to help
drivers to enhance the problem of the traffic congestion in
due course.
VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank AL Zaytoonah University
of Jordan for its support to this research.
VII. REFERENCES
[1] Adnan A. Hnaif, Amnah El-Obaid, and Nancy Al-Ramahi,
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Fig. 9: Comparisons between IRTMS and the current system according to
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Fig. 10: Comparisons between IRTMS and the current system according to
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V. CONCLUSION
IRTMS has significant features. The current traffic
system does not have a way to combine the camera on each
intersection for collecting the traffic data on each road. After
that, this collected data will transmit to the genetic algorithm
by using the Human Community Genetic Algorithm to
determine a priority for which an intersection is available by
many parameters discussed previously. Next, the traffic data
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In summary, the results that IRTMS obtained are more
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It is concluded that IRTMS in all scenarios, has the
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Management System is more efficient than the currently used
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IRTMS is significant for the real traffic system which can

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2019 IEEE Jordan International Joint Conference on Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (JEEIT)

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