TRAFFIC CONTROL

Traffic control, supervision of the movement of people, goods, or vehicles to

ensure efficiency and safety.
Traffic is the movement of people and goods from one location to another. The movement
typically occurs along a specific facility or pathway that can be called a guideway. It may be a
physical guideway, as in the case of a railroad, or it may be a designated route, marked either
electronically (as in aviation) or geographically (as in the maritime industry).

Two principal challenges in traffic control is safety and efficiency.

 Efficiency can be thought of as a measure of movement levels relative to the objectives

for a particular transportation system and the finances required for its operation.

 Safety, the management of traffic to reduce or eliminate accidents.

4 TYPES OF TRAFFIC CONTROL

1. Road Traffic Control
2. Air Traffic Control
3. Rail Traffic Control
4. Marine Traffic Control

Road Traffic Control

 Includes the layout of streets to serve a variety of travel needs in a region.

 Highways or expressways carry through traffic at high speed; arterial streets carry
traffic within and across urban areas; and local streets provide low-speed travel but
access to many local destinations.

Road Traffic elements

- Road traffic control at its most elemental level is achieved through the use of a system of
signs, signals, and markings
- An education program is needed, through driver-licensing authorities, to assure that those
who operate motor vehicles understand the rules of the road.

Common control techniques

- Traffic signal controllers are electronic devices located at intersections that control the
sequence of the lights.

There are four basic elements in a computerized traffic control system:

1. Computers
2. Communication devices
3. Traffic signals and associated equipment.
4. Detectors for sensing vehicles.
Air Traffic Control

 Airplanes travel along established routes called airways.

 The economics of air travel require relatively long-distance travel from origin to
destination in order to retain economic viability.
 The pilot, have short periods of high concentration and stress (takeoffs and landings)
with relatively long periods of low activity and arousal.

Air Traffic elements

 Air route traffic control centres - responsible for controlling and monitoring movement
between origin and destination airports.
 Airport traffic control tower - has direct responsibility for managing handling, takeoffs,
and all movement within the airport terminal control area.
 Air traffic controllers and aircraft pilots occupy a unique position in the air traffic control
system.

Conventional control techniques

 Airspace is divided by flight levels into upper, middle, lower, and controlled airspace.
 Airways are usually divided by 1,000-foot levels, with aircraft assigned specific
operating levels according to direction and performance.
 Normally all such movements are controlled by air traffic control centres. In upper
airspace, above about 25,000 feet (7,500 metres), pilots may be allowed free route
choices provided that flight tracks and profiles have been agreed on in advance.

Rail Traffic Control

Rail Traffic elements

 Rail traffic control differs fundamentally from all other modes because the operator of the
rail vehicle must exercise virtually all vehicle control through changes in speeds.
 Trains are constrained to the guideway defined by the tracks.
 Rail’s principal mechanical advantage is the low friction between the wheels and the
rails; this allows for efficient propulsion of the vehicle. Unfortunately it also causes rail’s
chief control problem: very long stopping distances.

Conventional control techniques

 Modern railway traffic control techniques are principally automated developments of

earlier systems based on timetabling, operating rules, and signals.
 The scheduling of trains in a working timetable predetermines the basic running patterns
and the daily work pattern of personnel.
Marine Traffic Control

Navigation is still the principal means of controlling the paths of ships; direction measurements
are made by a navigator using, as of old, a knowledge of the movements of the sun and stars and,
since the Middle Ages, the magnetic compass or the later development, the gyrocompass.

Traffic elements

 Control of ships at sea and their ability to avoid potential collisions are a source of
primary concern for marine safety.
 The maneuverability of any ship is heavily influenced by the environment at the time of
the attempted maneuver.
 Wave actions, tides, and currents all result in water movement around the ship, which
must be considered by the pilot in directing the vessel.
 Wind also can strongly influence ship movement, both for sailing vessels that use wind
for power, and for motorized vessels.

Conventional control techniques

 Control of ships on the open sea still remains exclusively with the master of the vessel;
when other ships are encountered, established rules of steering are practiced.
 Communications between ships and from ship to shore are important elements in marine
traffic control.
Control devices for marine traffic include:
 buoys
 lights
 sound-generating devices
 lighthouses.