Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
DOI : https://doi.org/10.31876/er.v6i42.821
Social and environmental equity in the improvement of
rural accessibility with ICT support
Equidad social y Ambiental en el mejoramiento de la accesibilidad rural con
apoyo de las Tic´s
Óscar Alberto Gallardo Toapanta*
Byron Wladimir Oviedo Bayas*
Juan Carlos Pincay Villacreses *
Cristhian Israel Zorrilla Ortega *
Received: September 13, 2021
Approved: January 23, 2022
* Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Programa de
Maestría en Desarrollo Local, Quevedo, Ecuador,
ogallardo@uteq.edu.ec, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-
4110-3391
* Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Facultad de
Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Quevedo, Ecuador,
boviedo@uteq.edu.ec https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
5366-5917,
* Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Facultad de
Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Quevedo, Ecuador,
juan.pincay2015@uteq.edu.ec
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0023-091X,
* Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, Facultad de
Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Quevedo, Ecuador,
cristhian.zorrilla2013@uteq.edu.ec
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0204-1642
Abstract
Nowadays there are many traffic accidents due to lack of attention
and excessive traffic when driving, which, as a consequence, puts the
lives of some people at risk. This is caused by several factors, among
them, the lack of respect for traffic signals and traffic lights. The
present project proposes a small-scale prototype of an automatic
detection system to help control drivers of vehicles that do not
respect the red light of the traffic signal. This autonomous system
consists of 2 sensor devices and 2 alarms, the function of the first
sensor is to detect the movement of a vehicle at the moment of
running the red light, and immediately the two alarms are activated,
the first alarm is located in the place where the infraction is
committed, to alert the other drivers and pedestrians, and the second
alarm located further ahead, which helps to alert the other drivers and
pedestrians that are in that place.
Keyword:
Traffic lights, alarms, streets, vehicles, prevention.
Cite this:
Gallardo, O., Oviedo, B., Pincay, J.,
Zorilla, C. (2022). Social and
environmental equity in the
improvement of rural accessibility
with ICT support. Revista
Multidisciplinaria de investigación
científica, 6(42), 1-11
Social and environmental equity in the improvement of rural accessibility with ICT support
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
2
Introduction
In the central countries, local development is the response of localities and regions to a
global challenge. This phenomenon, which took place in the 1980s, developed both in
its economic dimension (loss of state autonomy, economic restructuring, adjustment
policies, relocation of companies, horizontal-territorial exchange schemes) and in its
cultural dimension (weakening of national identity, privileging of the local). (Paolo,
2014).
In the research "Acceptance and appropriation of traffic rules that protect the
pedestrian by drivers in the city of armenia (Quindío)", (Rojas, 2018) aims to make an
approach that allows understanding the level of acceptance and appropriation of traffic
rules that protect the pedestrian by drivers in the city of Armenia (Quindío) within the
research line of Management and Public Policy as a scenario of knowledge construction
from the territorial development and understanding of the concrete reality in aspects
such as citizen coexistence, participation and administrative presence in the exercise of
public power from the collective imaginary of the city. In this research, all these basic
aspects of understanding are described -in an approximate manner- in order to propose
an approach that allows analyzing in context the citizen appropriation of traffic
regulations and how these are immersed in the behaviors and habits of drivers and
pedestrians.
According to (Ospina, 2021) in his study and proposal of an intelligent traffic light model
as a solution to mobility problems in Bogotá, he indicates that the growth of vehicular
mobility has increased assiduously, but in contrast, the resources provided for the
development of road infrastructure are very limited, and this has manifested itself in
scenarios where the volume of traffic in one or more points of a route exceeds the
maximum volume circulating through them. Consequently, intelligent traffic control is a
Resumen
En la actualidad existen muchos accidentes de tránsito por la falta de atención y
el exceso de tráfico a la hora de conducir, por lo cual, como consecuencia, se pone
en riesgo la vida de algunas personas, esto es ocasionado por varios factores,
entre ellos, la falta del valor respeto a las señaléticas de tránsito y semáforos. El
presente proyecto propone un prototipo a pequeña escala de un sistema de
detección automático para ayudar al control de los conductores de vehículos que
no respeten la luz roja del semáforo. Este sistema autónomo consiste en 2
dispositivos sensores y 2 alarmas, la función del primer sensor es detectar el
movimiento de un vehículo al momento de pasarse la luz roja, e inmediatamente
se activan las dos alarmas, la primera alarma está ubicada en el lugar donde se
comete la infracción, para alertar a los demás conductores y peatones, y la
segunda alarma ubicada más adelante, la cual ayuda a alertar a los demás
conductores y peatones que se encuentra en ese lugar.
Palabras clave:
Semaforización, alarmas, calles, vehículos, prevención.
Óscar Alberto Gallardo Toapanta, Byron Wladimir Oviedo Bayas, Pincay Villacreses Juan Carlos, Zorrilla Ortega
Cristhian Israel
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
3
very important instrument in the future to control traffic congestion and thus favor the
quality of life of the inhabitants, the environment and the economy of the city.
(Caiza, 2016) in his study indicates that the design and construction of a prototype of
an intelligent traffic light system is intended to perform a simulation that allows to
appreciate the benefits generated by the programming of the system in terms of
vehicular mobility in one of the streets with the highest traffic demand in the city of
Quito; For the development of the TT we applied the use of ATmega microcontrollers
that represent the control part and end up being the brain of the system to act
according to the existing traffic situation, the ATmega microcontrollers control the traffic
lights, in a first stage in a synchronized manner, so that the traffic lights in normal hours
work under the system called green waves.
On the other hand (Riofrío, 2018), focuses on the simulation of an adaptive traffic light
system, aimed at controlling the duration times of traffic light phases, directly linked to
the number of vehicles on the road, always giving preference to the route with the
highest number of motorists, through image processing.
Traffic accidents that occur in Ecuador are caused by many factors, for example:
disrespect to traffic signals by drivers or pedestrians. "Art. 270 of the General
Regulation of the Traffic Law provides: 'At all times drivers are responsible for their
safety, the safety of passengers and the safety of other road users. Drivers have a great
responsibility on themselves and on the other road users when driving their vehicle, one
of these responsibilities is to respect the traffic light. (Perez , 2018).
The city of Quevedo is one of the places where traffic accidents caused by disrespect
to traffic lights are frequent, the main cause of this is the indifference of respect, but it
is also worth mentioning that the lack of knowledge of traffic laws has a great influence.
The same social culture with respect to vehicular traffic laws lacks responsible traffic
education, not only in drivers but also in pedestrians. People do not respect zebra
crossings and cross wherever they need to, drivers of cars, motorcycles and even
bicycles do not usually respect red and yellow lights, many of them when faced with a
yellow light that means "slow down" make the grandiose maneuver of accelerating,
thus crossing the red light with great speed (Chiriboga, 2015).
The purpose of this project called "Automatic detection system of disrespect to the
traffic lights on Walter Andrade Avenue and 1st Street in the canton of Quevedo", is to
develop a prototype system that automatically detects vehicles that disrespect the
traffic lights in that place, so that through the use of motion sensors and sound alarms,
located respectively in strategic locations in the area, allow the detection of vehicles
that disrespect the traffic lights, The system will be located in strategic locations in the
area, allowing the detection of vehicles that disrespect the traffic lights, and the warning
alert to prevent traffic accidents in the place where the traffic light is located and also
in the next corner where the vehicle that disrespected the traffic light will cross.
Social and environmental equity in the improvement of rural accessibility with ICT support
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
4
Materials and methods
In this research, the inductive method allowed asking questions for the correct
orientation during the development of the research, for example: How can a moving
vehicle be detected while the red light of the traffic light is on; how can audible alarms
be activated to alert other drivers and/or pedestrians on the road when a vehicle runs
the red light; what devices will allow the deactivation of alarms when the driver who
committed the infraction stops his vehicle; what devices will allow the deactivation of
alarms when the driver who committed the infraction stops his vehicle?
The direct observation used in this study allowed us to learn more about the problem
and thus gather information to analyze and find solutions to detect drivers who do not
respect the traffic lights. This study was conducted at the traffic light located on Walter
Andrade Avenue and 1st Street in the parish of 7 de Octubre in the canton of Quevedo,
due to several factors such as lack of attention, traffic control and recklessness of drivers.
The application of the deductive method has allowed suggesting a solution based on
everything observed, diagnosed and described in this research work, making it possible
to deduce that the problem arose due to the driver's recklessness in not respecting the
red light of the traffic light. Since there is no traffic agent, a prototype of an electronic
system is established to improve this situation and prevent traffic accidents.
In order to obtain the pertinent information regarding the cases of disrespect to the
traffic lights, all the inhabitants of commercial establishments and homes located in the
4 blocks surrounding the traffic lights on Walter Andrade Avenue and 1st Street in the
parish of 7 de Octubre were taken as a strategic population. It was strategically
considered that from these premises and homes it is possible to visualize daily traffic at
the traffic light, a total of 15 homes and premises, of which 8 commercial premises, 4 of
them who do not work constantly were not considered, and the other 4 have little time
working at the site, were not considered either. Therefore, interviews were conducted
in the remaining 7 locations.
As a primary source, several interviews were conducted with the inhabitants of homes
and businesses located in the 4 blocks surrounding the intersection of Walter Andrade
Avenue and First Street in the parish of 7 de Octubre in the canton of Quevedo, with
the purpose of having a reliable source to corroborate the disrespect to the traffic lights
in this area, this population was selected because they are located in places from where
traffic can be observed at the traffic lights.
A bibliographic research was conducted on the legal documentation of the
"REGLAMENTO TÉCNICO ECUATORIANO RTE INEN 004 PART 5 SEÑALIZACIÓN
VIAL PARTE 5 SEMAFORIZACIÓN" (Ecuadorian Institute of Standardization, 2012).The
purpose of this study was to learn about the legal specifications regarding disrespect
for traffic signals (secondary source). Similarly, several research projects conducted by
various authors were reviewed, one of them called "Legal argumentation to sanction
traffic disputes and its constitutional impact on due process" (Chiriboga, 2015), in which
Óscar Alberto Gallardo Toapanta, Byron Wladimir Oviedo Bayas, Pincay Villacreses Juan Carlos, Zorrilla Ortega
Cristhian Israel
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
5
information was found on the current status of the cultural behavior of the citizens
drivers of Quevedo, with respect to traffic laws and respect for traffic signals.
Results
These are the results of the interviews conducted with the residents of Walter Andrade
Avenue and 1st Street in the parish of 7 de Octubre in the canton of Quevedo.
The interviewees have been living in this sector for between 6 months and 20
years. As can be seen in the graph, 100% of the interviewees, that is, 7 people
mentioned that many times there are cases of disrespect to the traffic lights in
the place where the research was conducted, therefore, 0%, that is, no one
mentioned the opposite or less than this. According to the answers obtained, it
can be said that cases of disrespect to traffic lights occur very frequently.
As can be seen in the graph, 100% of those interviewed, i.e., all 7 people, said
that they had been eyewitnesses to traffic accidents caused by disrespecting the
traffic lights; none of them said the opposite. This shows that traffic accidents
occur due to disrespect of this traffic light; one of the interviewees even added
that he had witnessed an accident that resulted in the death of a person.
As can be seen in the graph, 100% of the interviewees, that is, 7 people said
that the authorities do not take it into account, which is of concern because they
have observed accidents in which some people were injured and others died,
and they are also concerned because there is a park nearby and children and
adults use the intersection of the traffic light to cross the street. For which they
mentioned that it is necessary to do something to prevent any accident by the
drivers to not respect the red light of the traffic light and to reduce the case of
accident by 0.
As can be seen in the graph, 100% of the interviewees, that is, 7 people
mentioned that it is necessary to have a control to prevent future accidents due
to disrespect of the traffic lights because there is a park and children cross the
street at the traffic lights, therefore, 0%, that is, no person mentioned the
opposite. According to the answers obtained, it can be said that it is necessary
to implement a control system to prevent future accidents.
As can be seen in the graph, 100% of those interviewed, that is, 7 people
mentioned that citizens who disrespect traffic regulations should be monitored,
detected and sanctioned, as this would raise awareness and prevent many traffic
accidents in the locality.
Social and environmental equity in the improvement of rural accessibility with ICT support
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
6
First stage : An analysis was carried out based on the considerations prior to the
design of a prototype for an automatic detection system for disrespecting traffic
lights.
Table 1.
Comparison of microcontrollers for processing
PLATE
DISADVANTAGES
Arduino Uno
• It does not have its own
operating system.
• It does not have a port to
connect to Ethernet.
Raspberry Pi.
• It is normally used for
programming.
• Its operating system is
more complete and
complicated for
beginners.
Source: Authors
The Arduino Uno was chosen for its easy to use interface, therefore, it is ideal for
working in an electronic system, because in the environment we are going to
work we need to connect components and this board makes our work easier
because it is compatible with the ESP32-CAM module and the ultrasonic sensor
HC-SR04.
The sensors were chosen taking into account the image capture as the detection
of vehicle when the red light is passed in a certain area, in this case the Walter
Andrade Avenue in the canton Quevedo, because of the disrespect to the traffic
light, for which there are constantly accidents, leaving injured people and
sometimes death. The sensors that can measure the detection of object as the
capture of image or video that is compatible with the Arduino Uno board:
The HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor was selected and 2 of these detect vehicle
movement when the red light is passed.
The power supply of the vehicle detection system will be through a direct current
connection, because we will be working on a model that simulates the street of
Walter Andrade Avenue in the canton of Quevedo, this current will be 5V at 2A.
In using the alarm for prevention, we used two passive buzzers for reason that
they are compact with the Arduino one board and is of a compact size and easy
to handle.
Óscar Alberto Gallardo Toapanta, Byron Wladimir Oviedo Bayas, Pincay Villacreses Juan Carlos, Zorrilla Ortega
Cristhian Israel
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
7
This stage is dedicated to the development and implementation of the
prototype, so it will be divided into other substages, the first substage
corresponds to the design of the electronic circuit as such, the next substage
corresponds to the design of the mockup for testing, and the third substage
corresponds to the implementation of the prototype within the mockup. The
block diagram that uses the automatic detection system for traffic light
disrespect is shown.
As you can see the ultrasonic sensor HC-SR04 sends a signal to the Arduino Uno
board to process it and at the same time sends an instruction to the two buzzers,
where it indicates that it should turn on and then receives another signal from
the second sensor HC-SR04 to the buzzers to turn off, otherwise the buzzers are
turned off after a period of time to be programmed in the Arduino Uno.
As shown in the image above, the speakers or sound alarms are connected to
the board with the microcontroller, as well as the object sensors HC-SR04, the
LEDs represent the red and green lights of the traffic light, in this case the orange
light is not used for resource saving reasons, it is considered not necessary
because the sensors and alarms are activated only while the red light will be on.
The development of the automatic detection system of disrespect to the traffic
lights was obtained considering the following code, the Arduino Uno board is in
charge of processing the signals obtained from the different sensors for the
proper functioning of the circuit.
With the commands shown in the image, the HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors can be
configured to detect the movement of a vehicle at the moment of running a red
light.
Once the HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors are configured, the traffic light
configuration is raised, which is important for the execution of the ultrasonic
sensors and the buzzers that will help us as an alarm. The commands in the HC-
SR04 sensors that helps to detect when a vehicle passes the red light, which
sends a pulse through the Arduino board one, for processing to the alarms.
The following shows the command lines used for the configuration of the
buzzers, which allows us to activate and deactivate the alarm to warn other
drivers and pedestrians of the event.
The third stage is in charge of obtaining the results through the tests performed,
and correcting errors that occur at the time of executing the circuit.
Social and environmental equity in the improvement of rural accessibility with ICT support
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
8
Observations were made to the system to verify its operation. In the tests carried
out using the prototype, it shows the following results with different
perspectives.
• Case 1: Vehicle does not respect the red light and continues on its way.
• When a driver crosses the red traffic light, the HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor
sends a signal to activate the two prevention alarms, which will be in
operation for a certain period of time.
• Case 2: Vehicle does not respect the red light and stops further ahead
when it hears the alarms
• If the driver runs the red light, the HC-SR04 sensor will send an alert to
the Arduino Uno so the alarms will turn on, if later the driver stops for the
sound, the alarms will turn off automatically.
• Case 3: Pedestrian crosses zebra crossing when the traffic light is red
• When a pedestrian crosses the street at the crosswalk, the HC-SR04
sensor will not detect the pedestrian because the sensor will be in a place
that is not detected by the pedestrian.
• Case 4: Vehicle does not respect red light and turns to right side
• In this case, if the driver goes through the red light, the first sensor HC-
SR04, which will be placed next to the traffic light, will detect it, therefore,
the alarms will turn on, but when the driver turns right, the second sensor
will not detect it, because it only detects vehicles going straight ahead,
therefore, the alarms will be on for a certain time before they turn off.
• Case 5: Vehicle does not respect red light and turns to left side
• The first sensor HC-SR04 that will be placed next to the traffic light will
detect that the driver ran the red light, therefore, the alarms will turn on,
but when the driver turns left the second sensor will not detect it, because
it only detects vehicles going straight ahead, therefore, the alarms will be
on for a certain period of time before it turns off.
• Case 6: Cyclist crosses the red light of the traffic light
• The moment a cyclist crosses the red light, the HC-SR04 sensor detects
it, therefore, the alarms will automatically turn on until the cyclist stops or
turns off after a period of time.
The results of the research allowed obtaining information and knowledge for an
appropriate design of a prototype of an automatic detection system for the
automatic detection of traffic light disrespect, after the implementation of a scale
model of the mentioned place and in operation together with the circuit.
Different tests and error corrections were carried out to obtain a final prototype
that achieves the proposed objectives. The verification of the different cases
Óscar Alberto Gallardo Toapanta, Byron Wladimir Oviedo Bayas, Pincay Villacreses Juan Carlos, Zorrilla Ortega
Cristhian Israel
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
9
observed in the tests and results part of this document allowed verifying that
when vehicles do not respect the red light of the traffic light, the alarms emit an
outrageous sound which manages to capture the attention of passers-by and the
drivers themselves, and when the vehicle stops the alarms are turned off. These
results were obtained by simulating the prototype system in a mockup, the data
obtained from the cases of disrespect were displayed on the serial monitor of
the Arduino interface, the same that were collected manually by the researchers,
this simulation was performed considering that, in real circumstances, these data
would be obtained automatically and constantly.
In order to verify the correct operation of the system prototype and the
fulfillment of the hypothesis that states that this prototype allows detecting
vehicles that disrespect the traffic lights, it was necessary to perform a simulation
with the prototype, some data that will be presented are not real, unreal time
frequencies were considered but the records were actually obtained from the
system, observing the operation in real time through the serial monitor of the
Arduino interface.
The following are the records of cases of disrespect to the traffic lights through
the serial monitor of the Arduino, as a simulation, these data have been obtained
by simulated checks of non-real vehicles in the model, the sensors and alarms
worked as expected.
The Arduino serial monitor showed the results indicating the time when the red
light was on and each time there was a case of disrespect to the traffic light, the
case number, date, time and confirmation of whether the vehicle stopped or not,
thus saving the data in the log.
The data obtained in the Arduino interface shows a summary of the detected
cases of vehicles that disrespected the red light, the "Number" column indicates
how many times this case occurred, each number represents a vehicle that went
through the red light, followed by the "Date" column, which indicates the date
on which the case occurred, as well as the time indicated in the "Time" column,
the last column called "The vehicle stopped" allows to know if the vehicle
stopped after disrespecting the red light, if the data is "no" it means that the
vehicle continued its journey and did not stop despite having heard the sound
of the alarms.
By simulating the prototype in the mockup and the Arduino interface, it has been
possible to detect and record every time a vehicle did not respect the red light
of the traffic light, this data can be used to make any decision , in real life, if the
Social and environmental equity in the improvement of rural accessibility with ICT support
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
10
system were to be implemented, the data could be used by the traffic authorities
to follow up in the places where most of these types of problems occur.
Conclusions
Through the implementation and strategic programming of the object sensors,
it was possible to detect moving vehicles that are disrespecting the traffic lights,
i.e., if the vehicle has crossed beyond the zebra crossing lines while the red light
is on, the sensors immediately process a signal that is transmitted to the
microcontroller.
The devices selected as prototypes for the sound alarms provided a correct
operation and favorable response in interaction with the sensors, the response
was sent at the right time, since the programming of the sound alarms was
geared towards the concept of preventive warning in real time, the alarms
sounded at the right time.
The alarms were activated the moment a vehicle ran the red light, however,
these alarms were kept on for a period of time of 30 seconds while the vehicle
continued with its journey, however, on the occasions when the prototype
vehicle stopped within the detection area of sensor 2, the alarms were
deactivated, thus sending a positive message to drivers who do not respect the
red light.
With the implementation of this prototype, it is possible to create an
environment in which the municipal government, through the traffic department,
and the citizens participate in order to achieve sustainable development.
..........................................................................................................
References
Acero, F. A., Buitrago Arenas, A., & Falla
Yépez, J. P. (2018). La Responsabilidad
del Estado en Accidentes de Tránsito,
Causados por Fallas en la Señalización y
Mal Estado de las Vías en El Distrito
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Caiza, D. W. (2016). Design and construction
of a smart traffic light system prototype.
Quito: University of Israel.
Chiriboga, J. J. (2015). Legal argumentation to
sanction traffic disputes and its
constitutional incidence on due process.
Óscar Alberto Gallardo Toapanta, Byron Wladimir Oviedo Bayas, Pincay Villacreses Juan Carlos, Zorrilla Ortega
Cristhian Israel
Espirales. Revista multidisciplinaria de investigación científica, Vol. 6, No. 42
July - September - 2022. e-ISSN 2550-6862. pp 1-11
11
Quevedo: Universidad Técnica Estatal
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Ecuadorian Institute of Standardization (2012).
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city center of Guayaquil. Guayaquil:
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