Vision of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Based Traffic Management for Incidents and Emergencies

Tremendous traffic congestion is caused by major incidents and emergencies. Current methods for traffic monitoring and data collection are often expensive, location specific, and time consuming to install. ITS technologies have not fully been utilized to alleviate traffic congestion caused by major incidents and emergencies. This paper explores two of the most incoming cutting-edge technologies to effectively enhance traffic management in response to major incidents and emergencies. One is to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology to provide real-time traffic monitoring and data collection. The other one is to utilize Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) based traffic simulation as a tool to develop optimal ITS strategies based on its quick short-term forecast capability with real-time traffic information. This paper provides a vision on how to combine these two technologies associated with ITS technologies to effectively manage traffic congestion caused by major incidents and emergencies