Submit to Applied Sciences Review for Applied Sciences Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
Published Papers

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Transportation and Future Mobility".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2024) | Viewed by 12644

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jingsha He

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Faculty of Information Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Interests: information security; wireless networks; blockchain technology; digital forensics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. George K. Adam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Digital Systems, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece
Interests: computer systems design; computer architectures; operating systems; real-time systems; computer-based control; robotics; mechatronics, modelling and simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Danilo Avola

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Computer Science, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: computer vision (feature extraction and pattern analysis); scene and event understanding (by people and/or vehicles and/or objects); human–computer interaction (pose estimation and gesture recognition by hands and/or body); sketch-based interaction (handwriting and freehand drawing); human–behaviour recognition (actions, emotions, feelings, affects, and moods by hands, body, facial expressions, and voice); biometric analysis (person re-identification by body visual features and/or gait and/or posture/pose); artificial intelligence (machine/deep learning); medical image analysis (MRI, ultrasound, X-rays, PET, and CT); multimodal fusion models; brain–computer interfaces (interaction and security systems); signal processing; visual cryptography (by RGB images); smart environments and natural interaction (with and without virtual/augmented reality); robotics (monitoring and surveillance systems with PTZ cameras, UAVs, AUVs, rovers, and humanoids)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the rapid development of information technology, intelligent devices have been widely used in people's daily lives. Among the many applications, intelligent transportation that relies on the integration of transportation infrastructure and vehicular technology has recently received a great deal of attention. A smart city based on the Internet, Internet of Things, telecommunications, radio and television, and wireless broadband network is a new model for modern city development, aiming to promote intelligent technology integration and features of efficient and convenient social services. The development of intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) is of great significance in the process of smart city development, seeking to effectively improve the efficiency of transportation systems, reduce energy consumption, lower transportation costs, and decrease impacts on the environment. Furthermore, intelligent traffic control plays a vital role in dealing with the issues of traffic congestion and accidents.

Current technologies applied to ITSs mainly include information technology, computer technology, data communication technology, sensor technology, electronic control technology, and artificial intelligence that can not only solve the problems in present transportation systems, but also be applied online with informatization and intelligent equipment to meet the development requirements of smart cities. Although the development of ITSs has received extensive attention and made significant breakthroughs, weaknesses such as an insufficient application of technologies, low efficiency of management, and poor service levels still remain.

The development of key ITS technologies is an indispensable part of realizing effective ITS applications for the development of smart cities. The purpose of this Special Issue is therefore to promote research concerning important aspects of ITS development in smart cities, focusing on the key enabling technologies.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

AI technologies for intelligent transportation systems
Traffic modeling, simulation, prediction, and optimal control
Environment perception and recognition
Machine learning applications in autonomous driving
Deep reinforcement learning for autonomous vehicles
Path tracking and motion control vehicles
Internet of vehicles and smart transportation

Prof. Dr. Jingsha He
Prof. Dr. George K. Adam
Dr. Danilo Avola
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (8 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 2570 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing Training Methods for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Autonomous Vehicle Functions: Impact on User Mental Models and Performance

by Mohsin Murtaza, Chi-Tsun Cheng, Mohammad Fard and John Zeleznikow

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 2348; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14062348 - 11 Mar 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1705

Abstract

Understanding the complexities of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technologies is critical for road safety, especially concerning their adoption by drivers. Effective training is a crucial element in ensuring the safe and competent operation of these technologies. This study emphasises the critical role of training methodologies in shaping drivers’ mental models, defined as an individual’s cognitive frameworks for understanding and interacting with ADAS and AV systems. Their mental models substantially influence their interactions with those technologies. A comparative analysis of text-based and video-based training methods has been conducted to assess their influence on participants’ performance and the development of their mental models of ADAS and AV functionalities. Performance is evaluated in terms of the accuracy and reaction time of the participants as they interacted with ADAS and AV functions in a driving simulation. The findings reveal that video-based training yielded better performance outcomes, more accurate mental models, and a deeper understanding of ADAS functionalities among participants. These findings are crucial for policy makers, automotive manufacturers, and educational institutions involved in driver training. They underscore the necessity of developing tailored training programs to facilitate the proficient and safe operation of increasingly complex automotive technologies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 1699 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Variational Graph Autoencoder in Traction Control of Energy-Saving Driving for High-Speed Train

by Weigang Ma, Jing Wang, Chaohui Zhang, Qiao Jia, Lei Zhu, Wenjiang Ji and Zhoukai Wang

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(5), 2037; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14052037 - 29 Feb 2024

Viewed by 790

Abstract

In a high-speed rail system, the driver repeatedly adjusts the train’s speed and traction while driving, causing a high level of energy consumption. This also leads to the instability of the train’s operation, affecting passengers’ experiences and the operational efficiency of the system. To solve this problem, we propose a variational graph auto-encoder (VGAE) model using a neural network to learn the posterior distribution. This model can effectively capture the correlation between the components of a high-speed rail system and simulate drivers’ operating state accurately. The specific traction control is divided into two parts. The first part employs an algorithm based on the K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) algorithm and undersampling to address the negative impact of imbalanced quantities in the training dataset. The second part utilizes a variational graph autoencoder to derive the initial traction control of drivers, thereby predicting the energy performance of the drivers’ operation. An 83,786 m long high-speed train driving section is used as an example for verification. By using a confusion matrix for our comparative analysis, it was concluded that the energy consumption is approximately 18.78% less than that of manual traction control. This shows the potential and effect of the variational graph autoencoder model for optimizing energy consumption in high-speed rail systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 3191 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gray Correlation Entropy-Based Influential Nodes Identification and Destruction Resistance of Rail-Water Intermodal Coal Transportation Network

by Jiaxin Zhang, Junxi Chen, Yue Ma and Zhenlin Wei

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(1), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14010077 - 21 Dec 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1103

Abstract

Evaluating the importance of nodes in coal transportation networks and identifying influential nodes is a crucial study in the field of network science, vital for ensuring the stable operation of such complex networks. However, most existing studies focus on the performance analysis of single-medium networks, lacking research on combined transportation, which is not applicable to China’s coal transportation model. To address this issue, this paper first establishes a static topological structure of China’s coal-iron-water combined transportation network based on complex network theory, constructing a node importance evaluation index system through four centrality indicators. Subsequently, an enhanced TOPSIS method (GRE-TOPSIS) is proposed based on the Grey Relational Entropy Weight (GRE) to identify key nodes in the complex network from local and positional information dimensions. Compared to previous studies, this research emphasizes composite networks, breaking through the limitations of single-medium network research, and combines gray relational analysis with entropy weighting, enhancing the objectivity of the TOPSIS method. In the simulation section of this paper, we establish the model of China’s coal-iron-water combined transportation network and use the algorithm to comprehensively rank and identify key nodes in 84 nodes, verifying its performance. Network efficiency and three other parameters are used as measures of network performance. Through simulated deliberate and random attacks on the network, the changing trends in network performance are analyzed. The results show that in random attacks, the performance drops to around 50% after damaging nearly 40 ordinary nodes. In contrast, targeting close to 16 key nodes in deliberate attacks achieves a similar effect. Once key nodes are well protected, the network exhibits a certain resistance to damage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 3203 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Setting the Intermittent Bus Approach of Intersections: A Novel Lane Multiplexing-Based Method with an Intersection Signal Coordination Model

by Chenxin Zhao, Hongzhao Dong, Kai Wang, Jianwen Shao and Cunbin Zhao

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(18), 10098; https://doi.org/10.3390/app131810098 - 7 Sep 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1378

Abstract

Intermittent bus lanes (IBLs) can alleviate the contradiction between bus priority and the urgent demand of general vehicles for road resources. However, existing IBL strategies seldom pay attention to the setting method of the dynamic bus lanes at intersections, which leads to the still serious delay of buses at intersections in the traffic congestion environment. To tackle this issue, this research explores a novel method of setting the intermittent bus approach (IBA) of intersections for lane sharing and bus priority at intersections. In particular, a time slice division strategy with an intersection signal coordination model is developed to fully and reasonably allocate the idle time of bus lanes at intersections. Besides, considering the lane-changing demands of general vehicles at intersections, the parameters of the IBA lane system are modeled and optimized. For testing and verifying the feasibility of the proposed method, comparative experiments are conducted through microscopic traffic simulation. Results show that the proposed IBA setting method can effectively solve the problem of bus priority failure at intersections. It can maintain the continuity of vehicle running on intersection sections, which better exerts the operational benefits of dynamic bus lanes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 13656 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Improved YOLOv5s-Based Helmet Recognition Method for Electric Bikes

by Bingqiang Huang, Shanbao Wu, Xinjian Xiang, Zhengshun Fei, Shaohua Tian, Haibin Hu and Yunlong Weng

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(15), 8759; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13158759 - 28 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1710

Abstract

This paper proposes an improved model based on YOLOv5s, specifically designed to overcome the challenges faced by current target detection algorithms in the field of electric bike helmet detection. In order to enhance the model’s ability to detect small targets and densely populated scenes, a specialized layer dedicated to small target detection and a novel loss function called Normalized Wasserstein Distance (NWD) are introduced. In order to solve the problem of increasing model parameters and complexity due to the inclusion of a small target detection layer, a Cross-Stage Partial Channel Mixing (CSPCM) on top of Convmix is designed. The collaborative fusion of CSPCM and the Deep Feature Consistency (DFC) attention mechanism makes it more suitable for hardware devices. In addition, the conventional Nearest Upsample technology is replaced with the advanced CARAFE Upsample module, further improving the accuracy of the model. Through rigorous experiments on carefully constructed datasets, the results show significant improvements in various evaluation indicators such as precision, recall, mAP.5, and mAP.95. Compared with the unmodified YOLOv5s algorithm, the proposed enhanced model achieves significant improvements of 1.1%, 8.4%, 5.2%, and 8.6% on these indicators, respectively, and these enhancements are accompanied by a reduction of 778,924 parameters. The experimental results on our constructed dataset demonstrate the superiority of the improved model and elucidate its potential applications. Furthermore, promising improvements for future research are suggested. This study introduces an efficient approach for improving the detection of electric bike helmets and verifies the effectiveness and practicality of the model through experiments. Importantly, the proposed scheme has implications for other target detection algorithms, especially in the field of small target detection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 5566 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling and Control of Network Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram during Holidays: A Case Study of Qingming Festival in Tianjin

by Xiaojing Niu, Xiaomei Zhao, Dongfan Xie and Jun Bi

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(14), 8399; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13148399 - 20 Jul 2023

Viewed by 986

Abstract

In this paper, the macroscopic traffic states and network traffic dynamics during the Qingming Festival holiday are explored with the Macroscopic Fundament Diagram (MFD), including the weekday before the holiday (WBH), the day of Qingming Festival (DQF), and the ordinary weekday (OW). The network is heterogeneous on the densities’ distribution, and the congested areas are different in location and size. Normalized Cut (Ncut) algorithm is used to partition the heterogeneous network into multiple homogeneous subregions. The MFD of each subregion is distributed within the critical density on the WBH, and the high-density region moves from the city center to the periphery. On the DQF, high-density areas are on the central and west of the urban network. The congested branch appears on the MFD of the subregion. Then, two calibrated dynamic models, are applied to analyze the network evolution based on the partitioning results. On the basis of the calibrated model, several control strategies are proposed to relieve regional congestion on holidays. According to the simulation results, congestion on the DQF can be alleviated by controlling the external inflow ratio of subregion 2 or limiting the amount of traffic entering subregion 2 from the outside. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 3297 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Data-Driven Model Space Method for Fault Diagnosis of High-Speed Train Air Brake Pipes

by Weigang Ma, Jing Wang, Xin Song, Jiaqi Qi, Yaping Yu and Dengfang Hu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(14), 8335; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13148335 - 19 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1085

Abstract

A data-driven fault diagnosis method is proposed in this study to address the challenge of handling a large volume of pressure data in the air brake pipe of high-speed trains. The suggested method utilizes a BP (back propagation) neural network to transform the time series pressure data into model elements in the model space, ensuring simplicity and stability. Various fitting functions, including Fourier basis, Gaussian basis, polynomial basis, sine basis, and others, are employed to accurately fit the pressure curve of the air brake pipe. The fault diagnosis process involves two steps: classifying the fault based on an optimal approximation equation and diagnosing it by analyzing the topological relationship of the model elements in the model space. The proposed method achieves an average fault diagnosis accuracy of 89.8%, with high accuracy rates for different fault states: 98% for normal state, 88% for blockage state, 84% for leakage state, and 96% for compressor fault state. Compared to the hidden Markov model method, the proposed method improves the average diagnostic accuracy by 2% for known working conditions and 4.87% for all working conditions, demonstrating its effectiveness and reliability. The fault diagnosis of the air brake tube in high-speed trains is of great significance, which aims to realize accurate fault diagnosis and prediction through sensor data monitoring and signal processing technology, so as to ensure the safe operation of high-speed trains. These studies provide an important theoretical and practical basis for the improvement and application of fault diagnosis methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 13476 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research and Application of the Obstacle Avoidance System for High-Speed Railway Tunnel Lining Inspection Train Based on Integrated 3D LiDAR and 2D Camera Machine Vision Technology

by Yang Lei, Tian Tian, Bo Jiang, Falin Qi, Feiyu Jia and Qiming Qu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(13), 7689; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13137689 - 29 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2081

Abstract

This study presents an innovative, intelligent obstacle avoidance module intended to significantly enhance the collision prevention capabilities of the robotic arm mechanism onboard a high-speed rail tunnel lining inspection train. The proposed module employs a fusion of ORB-SLAM3 and Normal Distribution Transform (NDT) point cloud registration techniques to achieve real-time point cloud densification, ensuring reliable detection of small-volume targets. By leveraging spatial filtering, cluster computation, and feature extraction, precise obstacle localization information is further obtained. A fusion of multi-modal data is achieved by jointly calibrating 3D LiDAR and camera images. Upon validation through field testing, it is demonstrated that the module can effectively detect obstacles with a minimum diameter of 0.5 cm, with an average deviation controlled within a 1–2 cm range and a safety margin of 3 cm, effectively preventing collisions. Compared to traditional obstacle avoidance sensors, this module provides information across more dimensions, offering robust support for the construction of powerful automated tunnel inspection control systems and digital twin lifecycle analysis techniques for railway tunnels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Intelligent Transportation Systems in Smart Cities

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Published Papers (8 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI