ELECTRONIC route finders are great for drivers trying to find their way round
an unfamiliar city. But they are not so good for people living in the quiet,
residential streets the software recommends as short cuts鈥攕o the search is
on for intelligent systems that find the best way, without upsetting the locals
whose streets become 鈥渞at runs鈥�.
Current route finders use GPS receivers and digitised maps of an area to
pinpoint your location as you drive around. The fastest route to your
destination is calculated from information like speed limits and the number of
traffic lights on each road. But Hartmut Ziegler of traffic-consulting firm
Heusch Boesefeldt in Aachen and Felix Huber at the University of Wuppertal say
the devices should be smarter. 鈥淎dvanced route-finding guidance systems must
take into consideration the impacts on the environment and human beings,鈥� says
Ziegler.
So, alongside traffic consultant Hans Meiners, the pair wrote a program that
uses a database called the Digital Landscape Model to find out various factors,
such as the number of residential homes on each street, how tall the buildings
are and how far back from the road they are. The program then calculates 鈥渞oad
environment descriptors鈥� based on how much impact traffic will have on
residents. For example, people living very close to the road are likely to hear
more noise from passing cars. And routes that take cars down roads with taller
buildings are likely to increase local pollution levels.
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Ziegler says the information from his program could be built into route
finders. 鈥淭his system could be a real benefit, not only on small European roads,
but on suburban roads everywhere, because it addresses local concerns like
pollution and traffic,鈥� says Gary Larson, a technology and research officer for
the California Department of Transportation.