Patent ID: 7409286
Filing Date: 2008-08-05
Classification: G08G

Abstract:
1. A process to resolve traffic congestions and reduce the unwanted side effects of these such as increased use of fuel, pollution emission, increase incidence of accidents, driving stress, reduction of national economic losses and unfavourable relationships between drivers and traffic authorities by replacing the “stop and go” driving behaviour with “stop and wait, then go later without stopping” driving behaviour using a sensors-signals-communication system, said process consisting in: a. installing various stop and go signals, the sensors and the whole communication system for the automatic operation of the process in an area with tendency to traffic congestion problems, b. identifying via human or automatic analysis of the traffic flow, the formation of a possible traffic congestion, determining a “congestion head” this is defined as the location where the first vehicles have been detected in a standstill position and/or in “stop and go” behaviour and declaring the area from this position as “conflict area”; c. having the area been divided from the congestion head in the opposite direction of the traffic into segments limited by the stop (and go) signals; d. activating the first stop signal which determines the congestion head forcing the vehicles to a standstill one after the other waiting for the detachment of the conflict area ahead, and allowing stopped drivers to turn off the engine during this waiting time with the following vehicles filling all the segments under each signal successively, waiting for the liberation of the front conflict area; e. activating successively the second, third, fourth etc stop signal after the filling up of every corresponding front segment; f. beginning with the front stop signal been turn to “go” the liberation of the front conflict area allowing the start of the vehicles which are waiting in this front segment and its detachment; g. turning the corresponding next signal to “go” allows the successive liberation of the corresponding front segments and the vehicles successively progressing one after the other to adopt the “go later without stopping” driving behaviour resulting in the reduced occurrence of unwanted side effects of “stop and go”; h. repeating points “b” to “h” until the congestion has disappeared.