Transport and Telecommunication Vol.12, No 4, 2011 34 Transport and Telecommunication, 2011, Volume 12, No 4, 34–44 Transport and Telecommunication Institute, Lomonosova 1, Riga, LV-1019, Latvia BASIC CONCEPT OF THE TECHNICAL STUDY OF THE TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM IN PREŠOV Andrea Gavulová, Rastislav Pirník University of Žilina, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Highway Engineering Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Control and Information Systems Univerzitná 8251/1, SK-010 26 Žilina, Slovak Republic Phone:+421-41-513 9512. E-mail: andrea.gavulova@fstav.uniza.sk, rastislav.pirnik@fel.uniza.sk The project „Support Programme for the development of intelligent transport systems – National Traffic Information System for Slovakia“ also includes implementation of ITS of 11 chosen Slovak urban agglomerations. For the purposes of this project Technical study document for each town was elaborated in the first phase. The Technical study analyses existing and expected situation, defines critical localities on the basis of this analysis, which is necessary to solve and defines a framework for solution and its technical characteristics, respectively different alternatives of solutions. The article describes the current state of the ITS in the Slovak Republic, the scope of the Technical study of urban ITS and an ideological proposal of the Traffic Control System (TCS) in Prešov town, which has been elaborated at the author’s’ workplace. The urban ITS with respect to main goal – capacity increasing of existing urban road network and traffic congestion reducing – has been designed. In the article, functions and connections of all subsystems of TCS Prešov, their location within the town and connection to the NTIC (National Traffic Information Centre) master system are described in more details. Keywords: intelligent transport system, ITS, traffic control system, detection system, traffic control centre 1. Introduction The mobility of inhabitants and degree of motorization was increased not only in other developed countries but also in Slovakia. This has resulted in increased traffic loading and overloading of existing urban road networks. Problems are most evident in towns where there is a growth in traffic congestions, traffic accidents and negative impacts on the environment. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) implementation is one of the ways to effectively use the existing road network in the towns and increase its capacity and safety [1]. ITS is inevitable within the state, thus in towns, to be built in coordination and consistently on basis of interoperable systems based on open and public standards. Design of urban ITS in Slovakia must be in accordance with the „Support Programme for the development of intelligent transport systems – National Traffic Information System for Slovakia“ in accordance with the resolution of the Government of Slovakia No. 22/2009 dated 14.01.2009. The framework for implementation of the National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) was established within this Program. The part of the proposed system environment NaTIS is implementation of ITS in 11 chosen towns in Slovakia. For the purposes of this project Technical study document for each town was elaborated in the first phase. The Technical study analyses existing and expected situation, defines critical localities on the basis of this analysis, which is necessary to solve and defines a framework for solution and its technical characteristics, respectively different alternatives of solutions. The article describes the current state of the ITS in the Slovak Republic, the scope of the Technical study of urban ITS and an ideological proposal of the Traffic Control System (TCS) in Prešov town, which has been elaborated at the author’s’ workplace. In the article, functions and connections of all subsystems, their location within the town and connection to the NTIC (National Traffic Information Centre) master system are described in more details. 2. Design of Urban ITS as a Part of NaTIS Project Compared to the Slovak Republic some advanced EU countries have already had for several years operational systems enabling reception and distribution of relevant information related to road transport not only on domestic roads, but also on interstate roads. Although Slovakia is for a relatively long time a part of the EU, in the field of creation and mainly exchange of traffic information with foreign countries it is significantly behind. The situation should by improved by creating a National Traffic Information System, which should be a complex system environment for acquisition, processing, sharing and distribution of traffic data from information and communication systems and technologies on the road network in Slovakia.