The TANGENT project architecture: towards new traffic management approaches

This paper presents a distributed, modular and scalable architecture designed for advanced transport network management. The proposed architecture, developed under the umbrella of the TANGENT project, is intended to define a structural framework to provide functionalities for current and novel modes of transport. These functionalities are classified into four services:

●   S0. Data Collection and Harmonization Service. It collects external data sources, harmonizes and delivers them to the other services using a Data API.
●   S1. Enhanced Information Service for Multimodal Transport Management Service. It has a user interface (dashboard) where all agents monitoring and managing traffic can access a unified view of the current state of roads and the transport network, and view the forecast supply and demand of public transport. External service consumer users can access data through a public part of the TANGENT API.
●   S2. Real-Time Traffic Management Service is composed of two subservices: Smart Network Load Balance (SNLB) and Cooperative Incident Management (CIM). SNLB and CIM are very similar processes that are used to tactically and strategically address network issues and incidents. They are both based on templates provided by S3 (the Common Operational Picture - COP - for CIM and the Response Plan Package - RPP - for SNLB). They start by notifying about specific degrading conditions and suggesting a response plan for those situations. Their purpose is to address and solve the causing situations and resume normal operations. The difference between CIM and SNLB is that CIM involves several stakeholders at once, requiring their coordination by the system, and SNLB only involves a single actor from a single entity. The integration between the S2 components and the dashboard from S1 is achieved through the TANGENT API.
●   S3. Transport Network Optimization for Transport Authorities Service is responsible for the creation of the Common Operational Picture (COP) used in CIM, the creation of the Response Plan Package (RPP) used in SNLB, and the simulation of ‘What-if’ Scenarios for urban mobility planning.

The top-level architecture shown on Figure 1 aims to provide a configurable, modular, and decentralized framework to implement the presented services and their functionalities. TANGENT relies on the data collected and harmonized by S0, S1 centralizes data exchange between the different system components and the Data API from S0, delivering it through the TANGENT API. S2 includes support for SNLB and CIM, while S3 offers Network Optimization features, such as COP production for CIM and RPP production for SNLB.