STRIDE Student Spotlight: Mosammat Tahnin Tariq, Ph.D. Student, Florida International University

Mosammat Tahnin Tariq is a doctoral student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University

Mosammat Tahnin Tariq is a doctoral student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University working on developing signal timing strategies during non-recurrent congestion in the arterial network by using advanced analytics and emerging data sources. Her doctoral adviser is Dr. Mohammed Hadi at FIU.

Tariq is motivated by the challenge of improving the performance of transportation systems because of the dynamic nature of traffic flow and the complexity of the overall transportation network.

“The idea of using my ability to work on complex problems for the advancement of transportation systems and make a beneficial contribution to the society, encourages me and drives my interest in this field of research,” Tariq said.

Under the direction of her doctoral adviser, Tariq is working on a STRIDE-funded project titled “Comparing and Combining Existing and Emerging Data Collection and Modeling Strategies in Support of Signal Control Optimization and Management”. Her role in this project involves developing an advanced method to provide a solution for non-recurrent congestion in arterial networks. She utilizes advanced data analytics combined with emerging data sources to support signal retiming strategies during traffic congestion.

So far, the results of this research project show that the developed models are able to reduce queue length and improve traveler conditions in terms of the performance measures such as intersection delay, travel time, vehicle throughput, etc., during arterial congestion.

The research has generated an effective methodology for developing a special signal control plan to mitigate the adverse effects of non-recurrent congestions in an arterial system. The model can also be used when incidents on a freeway cause traffic to divert from the freeway to the parallel arterials resulting in a sudden increase in traffic demands on the arterials.

As for how this research will benefit society and transportation professionals in general? The results have demonstrated good response to congestion in arterial networks, and the models developed in this study can be used in traffic management centers to support the update of signal timing during incidents on the arterials. 

“In this project I have developed two different approaches that agencies can select from based on the capability and resources of the agencies,” she said.  “The use of advanced algorithms with a combination of high-resolution controller data in this research will form the basis for future research on this subject as well as other transportation system modeling and transportation system operation and management subjects.”