Creating traffic links in the Travel Times Engine - Travel Times 12.4

Security Center Travel Times User Guide 12.4
Applies to
Travel Times 12.4
Last updated
2024-03-19
Content type
Guides > User guides
Language
English
Product
Travel Times
Version
12.4

Before you can monitor travel time data in the Travel Times Engine, you must add traffic links to your traffic network and configure their location. Traffic links are road segments between two or more nodes in a traffic route.

Before you begin

Create nodes

What you should know

  • The Travel Times Engine produces travel times for every traffic link once per minute.
  • A vehicle enters a traffic link when it is detected at a source node and finishes its traversal when it is detected at a destination node.
  • A traffic link can have more than one source and destination node, this can be used when monitoring an area with multiple entrances and exits.
    In this case, the traversal records all source node detections and all destination node detections. The traffic link can be configured to use the time of:
    • First detection
    • Last detection
    • The mid-point between the first and last detection time at a source or destination node

Procedure

  1. From the Travel Times Engine web page, hover over the Admin menu, and select Traffic links.
    The Traffic links page is displayed.
  2. Hover over the Traffic links menu and click Add traffic link ().
  3. Add your traffic link by configuring the following settings:
    Short Name
    Enter a name for the traffic link.
    Best Practice: Include the geographic location of the traffic link. For instance, the direction and street names of the traffic link's endpoint nodes.
    Description
    Enter a description for the traffic link. This can match or provide additional details on the information entered in the Short Name.
    Owning Travel time organization
    Select the Travel time organization that owns the traffic link.
    Traffic network
    Select the traffic network for where your traffic link is found.
    Vehicle type
    Set the type of vehicles that the traffic link monitors. This acts as a tag for the traffic link. If the nodes for this traffic link are also assigned a specific vehicle type, the traffic link ignores detections that are not part of the set vehicle type.
    Display order
    Set a number to determine where in the Traffic links list the traffic link is displayed.
  4. Click OK.
    The Traffic link details page is displayed. The traffic link is created and inactive.
  5. Add nodes to your traffic link as needed by doing the following:
    1. Hover over the Source nodes menu and click Add source node ().
    2. In the Select Node field, enter the name of the node and click OK.
    3. Hover over the Destination nodes menu and click Add destination node ().
    4. In the Select Node field, enter the name of the node and click OK.
    5. (Optional): You can add deduction, root, or waypoint nodes by hovering over the associated menu and clicking ().
      For more information, see Node types in the Travel Times Engine.
  6. On the Traffic link details page, hover over the Location menu and click Change location ().
    The Edit location page is displayed, showing the map of the traffic network and the nodes associated to the traffic link.
  7. In the Map mode section, select Draw traffic link, and create your traffic link's geometry.
    1. Click on the map to create a start point for your traffic link and click along the map to create the traffic link path.
    2. Double-click on the map to create an end point for your traffic link.
      NOTE: If you are using passive nodes with the third-party data providers, ensure that your traffic link is drawn within the source and destination nodes. If the lines drawn for the traffic link extend past these nodes, the system has difficulty reading the geometry.
    3. To modify your traffic link, in the Map mode section, select Modify traffic link, and move the green points on the map as needed.
  8. (Optional): In the Corridor field, enter a corridor name.
  9. Click OK.

After you finish

  • After your traffic link’s geometry is drawn, the system will calculate the length of the traffic link. If the calculated value is not accurate enough, you can override the length value. From the Edit location page, enter the traffic link's length in Override traffic link length (miles), and click OK.
  • Configure your traffic link's travel time settings.
  • If you are using a third-party data provider, after the traffic link is active, you can use your provider’s geometry for your traffic link. From the Edit location page, click Use suggested, then click OK. Wait for 1 minute, then return to the Edit location page. Your traffic link's geometry is configured.