The Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, invites you for an Expert Talk Seminar titled 'Integrating Geo-Spatial Modeling with a Neural Network for Traffic Congestion Hotspot Identification and Travel-Time Prediction' on September 14, 2022 (Wednesday), 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM. The talk will be delivered by Dr. Manoj K. Jha, Director of Data Science, Advanced Analytics, and Transportation Advancement Strategy Consulting, Columbia, MD, USA. The session will be moderated by Dr. Shalini Rankavat, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence.
Abstract of the talk
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States and India. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) in the United States has listed a number of driver assistance technologies that are now common in most of the newer vehicles. Despite these advances, recurring congestion during rush hours is prevalent, for example, along Interstate 95 and 495 in the Baltimore Washington area. While real-time Google Maps are very effective in displaying color-coded heat maps to identify hotspots in real-time, these maps do not have the ability to show speed, flow, density, and other traffic parameters needed for developing effective rerouting strategies and alert-mechanisms for the drivers via variable message signs. This presentation shows the process of a geospatial and neural network integration to predict traffic congestion hotspots during rush hours, including a precise count of number of vehicles in each pocket of hotspots, their speeds, and estimated travel-time. The process uses live traffic sensor data. A case study from the Baltimore-Washington area along I-95/I-495 is presented. The study can serve as a guide for rush hour traffic management in Indian cities.
About the speaker
Dr. Manoj Jha serves as the director of data science, advanced analytics, and transportation at Advancement Strategy Consulting in Columbia, MD, USA. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, India in 1991, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Old Dominion University, USA in 1993, and a Ph.D. degree in civil engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA in 2000. He has over 25 years of experience in data science, advanced analytics, and transportation. He is a former tenured engineering professor in the USA, now in private practice. He has worked on data science and transportation projects funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Transportation. He is the past senior editor of the International Journal of Operations Research and Information Systems (IJORIS) and past editorial member of over six international journals. Currently, he serves as the editorial review board member of IJORIS. He has published over 180 technical papers in journals and conferences in the field of operations research, data science, and engineering.
C-021