Urban Traffic Flow Prediction System Using a Multifactor Pattern Recognition Model

Current urban traffic congestion costs are increasing on account of the population growth of cities and increasing numbers of vehicles. Many cities are adopting intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) to improve traffic efficiency. ITSs can be used for monitoring traffic congestion using detectors, such as calculating an estimated time of arrival or suggesting a detour route. In this paper, we propose an urban traffic flow prediction system using a multifactor pattern recognition model, which combines Gaussian mixture model clustering with an artificial neural network. This system forecasts traffic flow by combining road geographical factors and environmental factors with traffic flow properties from ITS detectors. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model produces more reliable predictions compared with existing methods.