BOSS off-line

BOSS-offline is a system which has been developed by Omnitrans International for the Dutch Department of Traffic (DVS) to analyse historical, undesirable network traffic conditions (e.g. congestion as a result of an incident) so that appropriate network management controls can be applied in real-time should similar situations occur in the future. This means that real time responses to adverse traffic conditions have been thought of and tested before the problem occurs.

BOSS: In Dutch: BeslissingsOnderSteunend Systeem; In English: Decision Support System.

The historic data is read from a database of traffic flows which are transmitted from loop-detectors, which in The Netherlands are almost every few 100 metres in the main highway network. This data is used to build trip matrices which are assigned to the network using different 'traffic controls', such as changing speed limits or lane operation, which are applied to relevant locations in the network in an attempt to 'deal with the incident'.

These scenarios are compared to a 'frame of reference', which can be 'real data' or other scenarios, to help determine which set of solutions is the most effective, using a range of criteria. When the most appropriate set of remedial measures are found, the proposed solution is saved, which means it can be applied to the real network should a similar situation occur in the future.

The saved scenarios in BOSS-offline are transferred to the BOSS-online system which is located in traffic control centres. In BOSS-online the actual current situation is compared to the saved scenarios from BOSS-offline. If a similar scenario is detected, the set of prepared measures in the BOSS-offline scenario is activated on the road.

BOSS-offline comprises a standard OmniTRANS installation using a specially developed plug-in which provides facilities for simulating and analysing the different user proposed scenarios, as well as utilising a simple, fast macroscopic dynamic traffic assignment model.