DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A GIS BASED TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
The state of the traffic system is influenced by travel demand and traffic supply characteristics. Travel demand is defined by Roess et al. (1998) as the number of vehicles or people that desire to travel past a point during a specified period. The main traffic supply characteristic that influences traffic system performance is capacity. Capacity is defined as the maximum number of vehicles or persons that can reasonably be expected to be served in the given time period (Roess et al., 1998). Also traffic management measures influence traffic system performance. Traffic management in some cases enables a more effective use of the available capacity (direct influence). Moreover, in some cases capacity is increased or decreased or certain trips are stimulated or discouraged, for example by means of road pricing (indirect influence).
Traffic congestion is a phenomenon that is associated with urban environment all over the World (Atubi and Onokala, 2005d; Ogunbodede, 2007). This is because we need transport to move from one place to another, especially when trekking becomes inefficient. While traffic congestion has been managed very well in some developed countries, it has continued to defy solution in the developing world. The forecast of global traffic volume (GTV) shows that time phenomena would double between 1990 and year 2020 and again by 2050. This type of growth pattern, as envisaged by the end of year 2020 and 2050, is an indication of what the future congestion portends for the people living in urban environment (Engwitch, 1992). Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as the use increases, and it is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, increased vehicular queuing, the most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles (Atubi and Onokala, 2004a).Many urban centers in Nigeria suffer from inadequate facilities that could ensure smooth urban movement. This is because the rapid growth of cities anywhere in the world has impact not only for the landuse also for the spatial expansion. The increase in commuting distance has impact on trip attraction, fares paid by commuters and traffic build-up in some landuse areas (Lamata, 2008; Shopade, 2010). The level of urbanization in the developing world indicates that more people now live in cities than before. Cities with one million people and above, according to the United Nations forecast increased to over 300 by the year 2000 in the developing world. This trend will continue because of the rapid growth in population, resulting from improvement in health services and the multificarious functions performed by cities which have been another major attractive force especially in Warri metropolis. The situation as described above has its impact on traffic congestion in the cities of developing world. Thus, the activities which take place in them, make them generators and attractors of traffic, which of course has implications on mobility (Ogunsanya, 2002). Warri metropolishave been noted to be very busy with automobiles, especially during the peak periods. During such peak periods, traffic noise comes from vehicle engines, exhaust systems and horns. Busy urban roads generatebetween 70-85 decibels of noise, depending on the characteristics of the traffic, speedand type of road surface. The tolerance level of noise is put at 66-68 decibels; meaningthat with 70-85 decibels, a significant number of people are irritated and the negativeeffect of noise on health could be better imagined (Ameyan, 1996; Atubi, 2006c).According to Odeleye (2001) the menace of road traffic congestion across the globeseems to defy immediate solution and like a dreadful monster it stares gallantly andridiculously at erudite urban planners and administrators in industrial and developingcountries of the world.
Cities and their transport systems are fully complementary. As defined by Rodrigueet al (2006), cities are locations with a high level of accumulation and concentration of economic activities, which form complex spatial structures that are supported by transport systems. The transportation systems according to Berry and Horton (1970) are the veins and arteries of urban areas linking together social and functional zones.
Urban productivity is highly dependent on the efficiency of its transport systems to move people and goods between multiple origins and destinations. Thus, the most important transport problems are often related to urban areas when transport systems, for a variety of reasons, cannot satisfy the numerous requirements of urban mobility (Rodrigueet al, 2006).
Emergency can be defined as a sudden serious dangerous event, situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and requires an immediate response or action to deal with it. Emergency can be caused by natural events (e.g. hurricanes and tornados), accidents (e.g. motor, fire or hazardous material spills), or intentional attack (e.g. terrorist bombings or armed robbery attack). An emergency situation requires a quick and focused response as human life and property may be involved.
Emergency Management has to provide powerful planning and control tools in order to support rescue operations. This requires real-time traffic priority control based on reliable fleet management, route planning and tracking of emergency vehicles. Unambiguous and time-optimal route guidance is essential for this application. Emergency locating and calling systems using automatic vehicle identification and generally available mobile communications are to be given particular emphasis.
The provision of emergency services is an important responsibility of various levels of government and a large number of departments (such as Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Fire and rescue, ambulance and policy, storm and sanitary sewer department etc) in Nigeria. A significant operation for the handling of emergency incidents is the routing of responding vehicles to incident sites and then to the closest appropriate facilities such as hospitals, ambulance station and fire stations. Developing emergency management system using GIS requires up-to-date digital road database. This type of road database provides direction, access to streets, and linear relation between streets and point locations, such as accident location, hospitals, fire stations, ambulance stations etc. GIS technology can support emergency responders to provide efficient response in quick response time through solving the routing problems. The whole idea is to draw together the elements of integrated urban traffic management in a coherent way so that common strategic understandings and technologies could be developed. This has enabled effective and efficient progress to be made towards European-wide system implementations to help solve current and developing urban traffic problems.
This project will look at the concept of how to use GIS functionality to create digital spatial database for road network in responding to traffic congestion and emergency services in Warri and its environ. A network is any system of interconnected linear features such as roads, railways, rivers, water/gas pipelines and telephone/electric lines. Network analysis will help users to take decision on the following which form the focus of this study.
⦁ Efficient travel routes
⦁ Quickest way to get somewhere
⦁ Quickest way to visit several locations
⦁ Which facility is closest
⦁ Which hospital/Police station should respond to emergency situation
1.2 Statement of Problem
One of the most significant urban transport problems is traffic congestion. It is experienced when the supply of the urban transport networks can no longer meet the demand for them. Today nearly all cities in both developed and developing countries suffer from traffic congestion. It manifests itself predominantly in recurrent queues, delays and time wastage which commuters experience along major networks especially during rush hours. Due to incessant increase in population, increase in household incomes and its resultant increase in the level of car usage coupled with poor land-use planning, poor transport design and planning, traffic congestion has become an intractable problem in urban centres in Nigeria.
Lack of comprehensive emergency management plan in Nigerian cities is the major cause of death and loss of properties in many instances when disaster occurs. Many lives have been lost in the process of emergency rescue due to lack of digital road network and lack of the knowledge of best or alternative routes to the disaster point as well as the emergency unit.
Traffic congestion is a major curse on urban movements. It is a plague that has become an integral part of normal life in almost all urban areas in the world. More seriously, traffic congestion causes unpredictability in journey times, thereby making commuters in Warri to plan for these problems by leaving home early just to avoid being late.
The problem of traffic congestion in urban areas is worse at road intersections. Indeed, there is no other point on cities roads that can be greatly congested as road intersections. As defined by O’Flaherty (1997), intersections (where two or more roads meet), are points of vehicle conflict. Similarly, Mchsaneet al (1998) noted that at no other location within the street and highway systems are so many potential and actual conflicts than at road intersections. This is because at intersections, vehicular flows from several different approaches making either left-turn, through and right-turn movements seek to occupy the same physical space at the same time. In addition to these vehicular flows, pedestrians also seek to use this space to cross the street and thereby worsening the already bad traffic situation.
Someof the problems facing road traffic system in Warri is the:
1. Hastiness of bus drivers to complete as many trips as they can in a day;
2. The street trading habit along the major road such as Warri-Sapele road, Jakpa road;
3. Poor traffic control and management,
4. Indiscriminate parking of active and inactive vehicles along major roads.
In all states in Nigeria including Warri, the rate of growth of vehicle ownership far outstrips the rate of growth of road traffic officers/vehicle inspectors.
There is need to involve a system whereby people can find the best or alternative road to get to the hotel, market, for leisure and also police station and hospital in an emergency situation. In order to make better informed decisions during an emergency, there is need to deploy GIS technologies in the management of traffic in Warri.
1.3 Aim of the Study
The aim of the project is to develop a GIS based Traffic management system and Emergency Response Management system for the improvement of transportation and emergency recovery through solving the routing problems and accessibility to closest facilities.
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are:
1. Database Design for the study area (Warri)
2. Acquisition of Geometric and Attribute data of the study area.
3. Database creation and linking attribute tables to geometric data.
4. Design a digital road network map.
5. Identifying traffic congestion prone areas in the study area.
6. Determination of the closest facilities in times of emergency.
7. Determination of alternative route in times of emergency.
1.5 Significance of Study
The purpose and significance of the study is to develop a traffic management system and an emergency management system to locate the nearest emergency responder, such as an ambulance, hospital, police station during an emergency, to suggest shortest route from emergency spot to the recovery point, accessibility to closest facility such as hospital and police station using network analysis and by mapping and monitoring of road accidents for Warri using GIS application.
1.6 Scope of Study
The study involves designing and creating relational database for geometric and attributes dataset of the study area, geo-referencing and digitizing the Ikonos satellite imagery of the area, generating digital road network map, manipulating and analyzing the dataset as well as presenting the results in tables and map format.
1.7 Study Area
1.7.1 location
Warri is a major oil city in Delta State, Nigeria, the city is located on approximately latitude 5°31'N and 5°45'and longitude 5°45'E and 5°50', with a population of over 300,000 people according to the national population figures for 2006. The people of Warri are mainly the Urhobos, Isokos, Itsekiris, and Ijaws, but other ethnic groups also live within the city. Warri is predominantly Christian, as is most of Southern Nigeria.
Warri sits on the bank of the Niger Delta and has a modern seaport which serves as the cargo transit point between the Niger River and the Atlantic Ocean for import and export. The city's history dates back to the 15th century, when it was visited by Portuguese missionaries. Subsequently it served as the base for Portuguese and Dutch slave traders. Warri became a more important port city during the late 19th century, when it became a centre for the palm oil trade and other major items such as rubber, palm products, cocoa, groundnuts, hides, and skins.
Fig 1.1: Map of Delta State showing the study area.
Warri was then established as a provincial headquarters by the British in the early 20th century.There have been a tremendous growth in the population; it has grown from being a rural area to an urban area.
Demographics
Warri Metropolis has expanded due to infrastructural development to include boundary towns such as Uvwie, Udu and Okpe in recent years, with various road networks linking these places into one. Each of these towns has its own administrative structure.
1.7.2 Climate
Warri is situated in the equatorial regions, between 5°and 10° north and south of the equator and has the equatorial hot, wet climate. The outstanding feature of the climate of Warri is its uniformity of temperature all year round. The mean monthly temperature is about 33°C (92°F) with little variation. Warri has its hottest month with 36°C (96°F) in view of this the relative humidity is consistently high, the atmospheric humidity is about 90% which makes the wind moisture laden. Warri has an annual rainfall which ranges from about 1524 millimeters to about 2699 millimeters and the pattern of rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year, as there is no month without rainfall.
1.7.3 Geology and Soil
Geologically, the rock types are recent sediment (post cretaceous). The major soil types can be related to climatic factors, vegetation, lithology and topography which gave birth to the hydromorphic soils found in the area which is seasonally or permanently water logged. The influence of poor drainage is reflected in the whitish or grayish colours due to the reduction of the oxides in the soil. The extent of profile development of the seasonally waterlogged soil is limited by the depth of the permanent water table.
1.7.4 Vegetation
The vegetation found in the study area includes mangrove and fresh water swamp forest. The mangrove forest is edaphic community common on muddy coastal shores, tidal swamps and associated creeks and lagoons. The environment of this forest formation is dominated mainly by changes in soil factors, especially those associated with distance from the sea, frequency and duration of subversion degree of salinity of sea water, soil aeration and soil fertility. As these changes vary from place to place, a number of edaphic communities are usually recognized as the peaty swamp, fresh water swamp, riperia tide and mangrove forest. These are the reasons for the existence of both mangrove and fresh water in the study.
The mangrove swamp appears essentially alike in its physiognomy and its ecological relationship throughout its entire world range. The flora consists of trees and shrubs. The dominant gums in all the area is Rhizophora (red mangrove). Also associated with the study area are palm trees and lianas in areas where the vegetation has been reduced to dense thickest (secondary forest). Trees are slender with stilt root (Pneumatophores) but however, where the forest has been disturbed raphia palm spread quickly to dominate the entire valley swamp.
1.7.5 Socio-economic
Economy and infrastructure
There is a refinery located at (Ekpan,Uvwie LGA), near Warri with majority of international and local oil companies operating in Nigeria having their operational offices close by. One of the nations major sea ports is sited within the city.
Warri is garrisoned by the Amphibious Infantry battalion (Effurun Army Base) located in Effurun, a nearby town to Warri and is administratively under the Brigade HQ in Port Harcourt. There is also the Warri Naval Base located along the bank of the Warri river.Warri has a state-operated television and radio station (Delta Rainbow Television and Delta State Radio) while Jeremi FM station (JFm), a private radio station also operates within the city.
The economic base of the city lies in the presence of a refinery and other oil and gas companies.
Also,there is the steel company, Delta Steel Company, which is located in Ovwian–Aladja area of Udu. Delta Steel Company, this company has been bought over by Global Steel Company.
The Beta Glass Plant is located nearby, outside the town of Ughelli, where the land is rich in silica and silicates, raw materials required for the manufacture of glass, ceramics and cement. The Power Holding Company, one of Nigeria's power generating stations, is also located at Ughelli, which is just 15 minutes away by car.
1.7.6 Transportation and Road network
Road
Road transport activities involve the conveyance of passengers en-masse or in small numbers, the transportation of animals, farm produce and merchandise and the rendering of mobile services (clinics, libraries and banks). Roads allow trucks to move goods from points of production, such as fields and factories, directly to markets and shopping centers. Private individuals rely on roads for safe and efficient automobile, motorcycle, and bicycle travel. Fire departments, medical services, and other government agencies depend on an organized system of roads to provide emergency services to the public in times of need.
Transportation within the city is mainly by bus and motorcycle. Major road networks within Warri Metropolis has been improved upon by the state government to improve the image of the city. Urban streets, which cover cities, towns, and most suburbs, allow vehicles to access properties such as homes and businesses. Urban streets are used by private motor vehicles, public transportation, bicycle traffic, and pedestrians. Urban streets also accommodate underground public-utility facilities, such as electrical wiring, water and sewage pipes, and telecommunications lines. In addition, these streets must often be built around existing buildings and other barriers, such as parks and rivers. Rather than shoulders, urban streets usually have raised edges called curbs, which provide a barrier between the street and the adjoining property or sidewalk. Urban streets are generally two-way paved roads that intersect each other frequently, allowing a high degree of access but at slow speeds. Traffic lights and signs help regulate the movement of vehicles along these streets and control the access to some streets. Urban streets are usually classified as one of three types: local, collector, and arterial. These designations are based on the amount of traffic each type is designed to carry.
Most urban streets are residential, or local, streets that allow vehicles to access public and private property. Collector streets convey traffic from residential streets to larger roads called arterials. Arterials are used to get quickly from one point to another and can accommodate high volumes of traffic. In large cities, arterials are often similar to highways in construction even though they are located within city limits. The federal government has completed the Warri-Benin Road Dualisation and is presently working on the Effurun-Port Harcourt Road Dualisation East-West Project.
Fig. 1.2: Road network Map of study area
Other transportation systemsin operation in Warri metropolis includes:
Air
Transport by air into the city is through Osubi Airstrip (also known as Warri Airport) which is located in Osubi, a nearby town.Arik Air and Aero Contractors are some of the main airlines operating commercial flights on this route while major oil companies like Shell and Chevron use the airport for transportation of their staff to offshore locations.
Sea
Movement of goods by sea is through the Nigerian Ports Authority (Delta Ports), which is mainly for export and import of goods by major companies. Also located on the main Warri riverside are markets and jetties used by local traders, which act as a transit point for local transport and trade. There are local boats which are used for movement from one location to another.
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