Impact of Urban Traffic on Fuel Consumption Leveraging IoT Data: Case Study of Riyadh City

  • Focus Area Transportation & Infrastructure Transportation & Infrastructure
  • Type Discussion paper
  • Date 19 December 2024
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Abstract

This study explores the rising trend of traffic congestion in Riyadh and its impact on fuel consumption for passenger cars amid the challenges of rapid urbanization and increasing vehicle use. By utilizing real-time floating car data (FCD) collected by vehicles equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and communication systems, this study illustrates the potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart city technologies in developing intelligent transportation systems and improving urban mobility management. A spatial analysis of the traffic flow dynamics in Riyadh, focusing on selected primary highways, reveals that driving on high-capacity roads tends to increase fuel consumption. We conducted an analysis at a mesoscopic level, representing traffic congestion in Riyadh on high-capacity roads. It shows that traffic congestion leads to up to a 29% increase in fuel consumption, primarily due to frequent stop-and-go driving behavior, reducing overall fuel efficiency. This study enhances our understanding of urban traffic patterns, providing policymakers with data-driven insights to help them create more sustainable road planning strategies to address the specific needs and challenges of urban mobility in cities.

Authors

Lama Yaseen

Lama Yaseen

Fellow- Transportation & Infrastructure Lama is a fellow working under the Transportation and Infrastructure Content Center. Lama has a B.Sc. degree in computer science…

Lama is a fellow working under the Transportation and Infrastructure Content Center. Lama has a B.Sc. degree in computer science from Effat University and an M.Sc. degree in software engineering from the University of Oxford. Lama is a programmer, data modeler and software engineer working in data modeling and software integration. She is also part of the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) team, working in spatial analytics and modeling.

Lama was also one of the main contributors to the KAPSARC Toolkit for Behavioral Analysis (KTAB).

Expertise

  • Energy Sustainability and Social Science

Publications See all Lama Yaseen’s publications

Nourah Al Hosain

Nourah Al Hosain

Manager- Geographic Information Solution Nourah is a manager in the Solutions Productization program. Her work focuses on geospatial analysis and modeling. Nourah was previously…

Nourah is a manager in the Solutions Productization program. Her work focuses on geospatial analysis and modeling. Nourah was previously in KAPSARC’s Policy and Decision Science program, where she was part of the KAPSARC Toolkit for Behavioral Analysis (KTAB) development team. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Prince Sultan University.

Expertise

  • Policy Analysis
  • Sustainable Cities and Geospatial Analysis and Modeling

Publications See all Nourah Al Hosain’s publications

Ibrahem Shatnawi

Ibrahem Shatnawi

Senior Fellow- Transportation & Infrastructure Ibrahem Shatnawi is a Senior Fellow in the transportation department at KAPSARC with more than 19 years of experience in…

Ibrahem Shatnawi is a Senior Fellow in the transportation department at KAPSARC with more than 19 years of experience in transportation engineering. He is currently leading the development of An Integrated Transport Model for KSA: Modeling Sustainable Pathways in the Transport Sector. His research focuses on transport policies and technologies for decarbonizing road transport and integrated transport demand modeling to estimate energy demand and emissions.

Before joining KAPSARC, Ibrahem gained extensive experience across both public and private sectors. He worked with the Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi, the Road and Transport Authority in Dubai, and renowned consulting firms such as JACOBS, Michael Baker International, and Parsons Corporation. His career has spanned multiple countries, including the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

Ibrahem’s expertise includes public transportation fare strategies, transport policies, travel demand modeling, transportation economic impact studies, intelligent transportation systems, traffic operations, and microsimulation projects. He has served as a project manager for large-scale transportation studies and authored numerous technical reports.

Ibrahem holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, specializing in transportation, from Jordan University of Science and Technology, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, specializing in traffic engineering, from the University of Akron, Ohio, U.S.

Expertise

Publications See all Ibrahem Shatnawi’s publications

Abdelrahman Muhsen

Abdelrahman Muhsen

Director- Geographic Information Solution Abdel is a geospatial leader, certified in GIS (GISP), with over 18 years of experience in GIS and spatial data…

Abdel is a geospatial leader, certified in GIS (GISP), with over 18 years of experience in GIS and spatial data management. He has a proven track record of leading and delivering enterprise GIS projects for international corporations in North America and the Middle East.

His work focuses on spatial economic modeling to better understand and forecast the interactions between economic activities, energy demand, land use, and transportation in urban areas.

Before KAPSARC, Abdel worked for world-renowned, global companies, such as Accenture and ESRI, in North America and the Middle East. He served as a technical leader and a senior consultant, guiding clients in the energy sector on how to extract value out of geospatial data assets and GIS investments. Abdel holds an M.Sc. in geomatics engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada.

Expertise

  • GIS
  • Sustainability
  • Urban Analytics
  • Location Intelligence
  • Spatial Data Science
  • Earth Observation and Remote Sensing

Publications See all Abdelrahman Muhsen’s publications

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