PTV takes lessons from logistics software to help test AV behaviour

Some people in the transportation industry may be reluctant to treat travellers as goods that need to be shipped from point A to point B. The traffic software engineers at PTV Group are not some of those people. According to Jongsun Won, the lessons he and his colleagues have learned from years of creating logistics software are extremely useful in the new age of autonomous vehicles. “In an autonomous vehicle, people are essentially the goods that are being transported around a city,” Won said. “There are
June 7, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
© F11photo | Dreamstime.com
Some people in the transportation industry may be reluctant to treat travellers as goods that need to be shipped from point A to point B. The traffic software engineers at 3264 PTV Group are not some of those people. According to Jongsun Won, the lessons he and his colleagues have learned from years of creating logistics software are extremely useful in the new age of autonomous vehicles.


“In an autonomous vehicle, people are essentially the goods that are being transported around a city,” Won said. “There are definite lessons to be learned as cities try to figure out how driverless cars are going to behave.”

PTV gives cities a platform they can use to test out different traffic scenarios, so they can identify potential problem areas such as congested intersections and merge lanes. One thing that transportation officials are interested in today, is how autonomous vehicles are going to change traffic patterns—for the better or for the worse.

“The fact is, no-one knows how autonomous vehicles are going to impact traffic. PTV helps collect, study and analyse pertinent data that can provide insight into these behaviours.”

Booth 235

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Preparing for connected vehicle technology challenge
    December 14, 2012
    A decision on mandating connected vehicle technology is expected in 2013, when associated political issues such as privacy are likely to come to the fore. Pete Goldin investigates industry’s preparations for the challenge. Once in a while new technology comes along with the power to revolutionise the way we live our lives. Connected vehicle technology could be such a game changer. If mandated in the United States, it could quickly become the status quo for transportation in the US, and such a disruptive cha
    Read More
  • Iteris sees red over US road deaths
    November 26, 2019
    Drivers who run red lights are killing more than two people per day in the US, says an AAA report. James Esquivel of Iteris sets out some practical ways in which this might be stopped
    Read More
  • Solving Detroit’s jams: just ask a Michigan student
    October 17, 2019
    At the Institute of Transportation Engineers annual meeting, a clever student plan to reduce commute times in Detroit suggests the future of the ITS industry is in good hands, write Pete Spiller and Jarrod Cady A team of students from the University of Michigan won a national student Transportation Technology Tournament - sponsored by the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and the US Department of Transportation - with a compelling presentation on reducing congestion. In an impressive d
    Read More
  • MaaS Market Conferences on both sides of the Atlantic in 2018
    December 20, 2017
    Momentum shift in prospect as authorities accelerate plans to rethink transport provision. TS International’s second, two-day international MaaS Market conference takes place on 20 and 21 February 2018. The Mobility as a Service (MaaS) event is ideal for all organisations exploring new ways of getting people to their destination and new methods for them to pay for transport services.
    Read More

Highlighted Content