Setting up a smart traffic management system that will reduce traffic jams, increase safety, and improve the experiences of all signalized intersections in a tourist city.
Besides being one of the largest cities in Croatia, Zadar is also one of the most attractive tourist destinations for numerous domestic and foreign visitors.
Often, and especially during the tourist season, there are traffic jams and congestion on the streets of Zadar. Therefore, Zadar, like many other cities in the world, decided to introduce a modern traffic management system as part of the Smart City concept.
A system with a range of solutions
At the end of 2023, the ITS system was put into operation at 17 signalized intersections in Zadar. This centralized, scalable system integrates an application solution for traffic management, subsystems for monitoring road traffic through video surveillance and management of traffic lights, along with the installation of variable signage (info displays), implementation of advanced communication infrastructure, and a central processing, monitoring, and management system.
With this sophisticated traffic system, the city traffic is monitored and managed from a central location – a smart room – in the business incubator Inovativni Zadar.
ITS platform collects data from city roads through video analytical cameras and dynamically manages traffic lights in real-time, freeing, and blocking certain traffic routes. This way, in addition to putting traffic under control, the city can have data on the number of vehicles on a particular road, traffic dynamics, and detailed information on unwanted traffic events at any time.
By optimizing and better organizing traffic, the level of traffic safety increases.
Data - based adaptive regulation
Based on the data collected by the cameras, traffic dynamics are managed in real-time. If necessary, traffic is optimized by changing traffic scenarios and managing the stopping and passing of vehicles through traffic corridors. All this enhances the overall urban mobility of traffic participants.
Remote control of the traffic light system enables high-quality adaptation to traffic conditions, in accordance with the traffic volumes of individual approaches to the intersection with traffic lights.
Crossroads are interconnected, functionally coordinated, and managed from a central room.
A system available to everyone
The ITS system of the city of Zadar also includes information screens that inform drivers about the state of the roads – roadworks, traffic jams, accidents, and changes in speed limits. Special emphasis is placed on the most vulnerable traffic participants – pedestrians, for whom separate sensors have been installed that are activated when necessary. Traffic lights give the green light according to the real needs of road users, which further increases throughput and safety at intersections.
Cameras located at intersections, in addition to the video analytical traffic processing, also serve to increase general safety and for crime prevention.
The central application solution allows insight into detailed statistical reports in real time, in a tabular and graphical display. The reports include diagrams and graphs with data on the throughput of the number of vehicles during certain periods and the traffic intensity during the hour, day, month, and year. The system can be optimized further by looking at detailed traffic analytics and analysing historical data.
The system also monitors the status of active equipment and sensor elements and informs if a problem or malfunction has occurred in the system.
Smart city, happy people
Citizens, as well as tourists, benefit greatly from the optimization and more efficient traffic organization. Efficient traffic management reduces congestion and enables drivers to drive without major delays.
Environmental performance is especially important for the city of Zadar; therefore, this ITS solution also has a strong ecological component. Smart optimization of traffic leads to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the number of floating particles, the level of noise, vibrations, and light pollution, as well as savings in fuel consumption.
The ITS system in Zadar was jointly implemented by the companies KING ICT Ltd. and Semafor Ltd.
