EVP-STC: Emergency vehicle priority and self-organising traffic control at intersections using internet-of-things platform

This paper presents an Internet-of-Things-based platform for emergency vehicle priority and self-organised traffic control (EVP-STC) management at intersections. With the increasing number of automobiles, traffic jams in urban areas are becoming a critical issue. Traffic jams, especially those at intersections, not only increase delays for drivers but also increase fuel consumption and air pollution. We propose a novel platform and protocol called EVP-STC that contains three main systems. The first system, called the intersection controller, is installed at traffic lights and collects emergency vehicle position information and vehicle density data at each road segment approaching an intersection. The intersection controller then adjusts the timings of traffic lights based on detected real-time traffic. The second system is installed at each road segment and contains force resistive sensors to detect vehicles. It transmits the detected information to the intersection controller via ZigBee. The third system is installed in emergency vehicles and provides GPS coordinates to the intersection controller to avoid any waiting time for emergency vehicles at intersections. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed platform, which minimises total delays, lane opening times, and waiting times for emergency vehicles.