Traffic forecast prediction is a task of predicting traffic volumes, utilizing historical speed and volume data with the help of Time Series Analysis in python. Traffic forecasting is an integral part of the process of designing of road facilities, starting from investment feasibility study to developing of working documentation. You can also apply the Time Series Analysis for stock market, product sales, item demands, etc.
In this tutorial, we will load and analyze the data set from a transport company, preprocess the data and apply a prediction model to forecast the traffic and visualize through graphs.
You can watch the video-based tutorial with step by step explanation down below.
Dataset Information
Investors are considering making an investment in a new form of transportation - JetRail. JetRail uses Jet propulsion technology to run rails and move people at a high speed! While Jet-Rail has mastered the technology and they hold the patent for their product, the investment would only make sense, if they can get more than 1 Million monthly users within the next 18 months.
You need to help Unicorn ventures with the decision. They usually invest in B2C start-ups less than 4 years old looking for pre-series A funding. In order to help Unicorn Ventures in their decision, you need to forecast the traffic on JetRail for the next 7 months.
Download the Dataset here
Import Modules
Let us import all the basic modules we will be needing for this project.
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
%matplotlib inline
import warnings
warnings.filterwarnings('ignore')
from fbprophet import Prophetpandas - used to perform data manipulation and analysis
numpy - used to perform a wide variety of mathematical operations on arrays
matplotlib - used for data visualization and graphical plotting
%matplotlib - to enable the inline plotting.
warnings - to manipulate warnings details
filterwarnings('ignore') is to ignore the warnings thrown by the modules (gives clean results)
Prophet - Module to use the Time Series Analysis API
You must install fbprophet in order to import correctly
Loading the Dataset
df = pd.read_csv('Traffic data.csv')
df.head()
Here, we display the first five data from the data set
The Id is not necessary for this tutorial so it can be left out for faster processing
df
This is the display of the whole data, partially returned for viewing purposes
The data is composed of three years of collected data (2012-2014)
Preprocessing the dataset
# check null values
df.isnull().sum()
As we see, there are no null values present in the data set, which is good and makes the process easier
In case the data set contains at least one null value you must replace it using imputation techniques so it doesn't affect the results
df.info()
Datetime is a column we want to convert so we need to see the data type to know how to process it
# convert object to datetime datatype
df['Datetime'] = pd.to_datetime(df['Datetime'], format='%d-%m-%Y %H:%M')
df.info()
Now we converted the Datetime column from an object to a proper datetime attribute
# EDA
plt.figure(figsize=(10,7))
plt.plot(df['Datetime'], df['Count'])
plt.show()
Visualization of the growth of traffic in the specific datetime range collected
Format data for the model
df.index = df['Datetime']
df['y'] = df['Count']
df.drop(columns=['ID', 'Datetime', 'Count'], axis=1, inplace=True)
df = df.resample('D').sum()
df.head()
This process combines all the data set with the same date summing the count
df['ds'] = df.index
df.head()
Defining the input data as 'ds' and the output data as 'y'
Input Split
size = 60
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
train, test = train_test_split(df, test_size=size/len(df), shuffle=False)train.tail()
test_size=size/len(df) - gives a certain percentage
shuffle=False - To ensure that the data is not shuffled
test.head()
Display of the first five data samples in the test data
test.tail()
Display of the last five data samples from the test data
Model Training
model = Prophet(yearly_seasonality=True, seasonality_prior_scale=0.9)
model.fit(train)Initialization of Prophet model with yearly seasonality as a parameter
future = model.make_future_dataframe(periods=60)
future
Generating a future dataframe in a 60 day period from the train dataset
forecast = model.predict(future)
forecast.head()
Forecast prediction of the future dataframe, giving the lowest and highest prediction for a specific day
model.plot_components(forecast)
We can clearly see the progression of the trends throughout different time ranges
We can also see the weekly and yearly progression from the data
pred = forecast.iloc[-60:, :]
len(pred)# test results
plt.figure(figsize=(10,7))
plt.plot(test['ds'], test['y'])
plt.plot(pred['ds'], pred['yhat'], color='red')
plt.plot(pred['ds'], pred['yhat_lower'], color='green')
plt.plot(pred['ds'], pred['yhat_upper'], color='orange')
plt.show()
Plot graph comparison between the dataset and the predicted data
You can apply hyper parameter tuning to get more accurate results
# input data
plt.plot(df['ds'], df['y'])
plt.show()
Plot graph display of the original data set
# forecast data
plt.plot(forecast['ds'], forecast['yhat'])
plt.show()
Plot graph display of the predictions from the whole data set
model = Prophet(yearly_seasonality=True, seasonality_prior_scale=0.9)
model.fit(df)
future = model.make_future_dataframe(periods=200)
forecast = model.predict(future)
forecast.head()
Forecast prediction changing the hyper parameter, extending the time period to 200 days
# forecast data
plt.plot(forecast['ds'], forecast['yhat'])
plt.show()
Compared with the graph of the 60 day period, it has more accurate results almost similar to the original data
Final Thoughts
You can also use hyperparameter tuning to improve the model performance.
You can further try other models like ARIMA, LSTM, Transformer, etc.
In this article, we have explored the Time Series Analysis through traffic forecast in a specific time period to predict the progressive increase of traffic in the city. This exercise is very useful to apply on any market or sales type project to view the possible sales prediction, client increase, financial income, etc., in a time range.
Get the project notebook from here
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