Network-Wide Traffic State Observation and Analysis Method Using Pseudo-Color Map

A novel algorithm is proposed in this paper to meet the demand of urban traffic control and management for network-wide traffic states observation and analysis. Urban traffic network is mapped to a pseudo-color image with pixels corresponding to grids. The colors of the pixels represent the corresponding grids' states values so that this pseudo-color image vividly represents the macroscopic traffic state. The Otsu algorithm is used to find the congested regions automatically. The evolutionary patterns of traffic state are determined by calculating and analyzing the optical flow field of consecutive pseudo-color images. A case study of Beijing macroscopic traffic state observation and analysis is also presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.