Probe Vehicle Data (PVD)

Probe Vehicle Data (PVD)

Probe Vehicle Data (PVD)

Probe Vehicle Data is data generated by vehicles. The collected traffic data can be used as input for operational traffic management (e.g., to determine the traffic speed, manage traffic flows by – for instance- alerting users in hot spots, where the danger of accidents accumulates), long term tactical/ strategic purposes (e.g. road maintenance planning) and for traveler information services. Also known as Floating Car Data (FCD).

Participating actors in the service Probe Vehicle Data include vehicle drivers, who drive the vehicle and possibly give their consent regarding sharing the vehicle’s data, road operators, who collect the data, service providers, who use the data derived from the vehicles to provide information, warnings and advices, end users, who receive warnings to avoid dangerous situations and advice to change the driving behavior (brake, accelerate, change routes, etc.), and OEMs who may act as a service provider, but also as an intermediate between the service providers and the end users.

The objective of Probe Vehicle Data is to collect data about traffic conditions, road surface conditions and the surroundings.

Business Models

Taking into account various stakeholders’ views, a list of business model blueprints that address current or future challenges of urban areas, together with their operating and value-capture scenarios depicting the inner-workings of the business models, and the exchange of costs-benefits among stakeholders, have been created for the Probe Vehicle Data service.

Architecture

ITS-G5

In case of ITS-G5 communication technologies the Vehicle Electrical & Electronic (VEE) system (GPS, sensors, cameras, etc.) gathers information about the vehicle and its surroundings constantly and delivers it to the On-Board Unit. The On-Board Unit is in charge of building the appropriate message and transfer it to the Roadside Unit via ITS-G5 and then, the Roadside Unit sends this probe data to the Connection Provider Back Office. The Service Provider Back Office or the Traffic Management System can be the receiver of the data in the Connection Provide Back Office. If the data needs further processing and formatting before reaching the Traffic Management System, the Service Provider Back Office can be subscribed to the GeoMessaging Probe Vehicle Data service, in order to receive, treat and forward the data to the Traffic Management System. Otherwise, the Traffic Management System is the one that needs to be subscribed to the GeoMessaging Probe Vehicle Data, in order to receive the data directly form the Connection Provider Back Office.

Cellular

In case of cellular communication technologies the information is generated in the Personal Information Device and transmitted to the Service Provider Back Office using a cellular communication. Then, the information follows the same flow as in the ITS-G5 communication, where it can be directly delivered to the Traffic Management System or indirectly passing through the Connection Provider Back Office with a previous GeoMessaging subscription. The data can be aggregated at multiple levels; in the vehicle, in the roadside equipment and/ or in the back office. An early aggregation is preferred, as this helps to ensure the privacy of the drivers.

Architecture schema

Detailed information about Probe Vehicle Data architecture can be found here.

Suppliers

Suppliers of components and solutions for the Probe Vehicle Data service include research institutes, such as CERTH-HIT, CTAG, as well as private companies, such as NeoGLS, IDIADA, Dynniq, Traffic Technique,and Swarco.

Within the C-MobILE project the Probe Vehicle Data service is implemented in four Deployment Sites: Barcelona, Bordeaux, Thessaloniki, and Vigo.

Barcelona

The Barcelona Deployment Site implements the Probe Vehicle Data service based on cellular communication technologies. This passive service helps to gather mobility information from the vehicles that can be used for traffic management purposes, among others. Applus IDIADA is the service provider.

Bordeaux

Bordeaux DS gathers Probe Vehicle Data from the cellular smartphone application. Indeed, data about position and speed of the vehicles are forwarded to Gertrude, a local stakeholder, that uses them to compute information about traffic, such as trip time and distance matrices. The service provider for PVD is NeoGLS.

Newcastle

The Newcastle City Council collects Probe Vehicle Data from the ITS-G5 services deployed on Arriva buses. The PVD gathers real information on traffic flows in the equipped area. It is received by the UTMC and processed into relevant traffic information based on actual, real-time traffic conditions. One advantage is that the equipped vehicles run on a frequent schedule and gather plentiful data.

Thessaloniki

In Thessaloniki Probe Vehicle Data are collected from all the taxis of the Taxiway fleet as well as from other drivers using the CERTH-HIT App (cmobile.imet.gr). The service provider, the Hellenic Institute of Transport (CERTH-HIT), collects the data from drivers to provide them with better C-ITS services and to contribute to improve the traffic management.

Vigo

In Vigo the Prove Vehicle Data service is based on cellular communication technology. This service is devoted  to provide authorized vehicle information to CTAG Traffic Management Centre in order to detect hazardous situations not controlled by conventional traffic monitoring systems.

Copyright © 2021 Cooperative Urban Mobility Portal. All rights reserved.