Engineering and the Environment

Ben Waterson

BSc MSc PhD

Primary position:
Lecturer

Background

Dr Ben Waterson has been a member of the Transportation Research Group since 1997. With a background in statistics and operational research methods his early research focused on issues related to quantifying behavioural responses to traveller information and representing these within existing simulation models. More recently his focus has been on quantifying traffic conditions based solely on combinations of detector data streams, working closely with local authorities to build on research experience within real-time urban journey time estimation, through development incident detection algorithms and enabling research into the fusion of disparate sources of traffic and environmental data to generate more comprehensive views of current network conditions. He is currently also the Director of the Engineering Doctorate (EngD) programme in Transport and the Environment.

Dr Ben Waterson's photo

Publications

The University of Southampton's electronic library (e-prints)

Article

Hamilton, Andrew, Waterson, Ben, Cherrett, T.J., Robinson, Andy and Snell, Ian (2013) The evolution of urban traffic control: changing policy and technology. Transportation Planning and Technology, 36, (1), 24-43. (doi:10.1080/03081060.2012.745318).
Box, S. and Waterson, B. (2013) An automated signalized junction controller that learns strategies by temporal difference reinforcement learning. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 26, (1), 652-659. (doi:10.1016/j.engappai.2012.02.013).
Cruickshanks, Scott and Waterson, Ben (2012) Will privacy concerns associated with future transport systems restrict the public’s freedom of movement? [in special issue: Transport Research Arena 2012] Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 48, 941-950. (doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.1071).
Waterson, Ben and Box, Simon (2012) Quantifying the impact of probe vehicle localisation data errors on signalised junction control. IET Intelligent Transport Systems, 6, (2), 197-203. (doi:10.1049/iet-its.2010.0113).
Box, Simon and Waterson, Ben (2012) An automated signalized junction controller that learns strategies from a human expert. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 25, (1), 107-118. (doi:10.1016/j.engappai.2011.09.008).
McLeod, Fraser, Cherrett, Tom and Waterson, Ben (2011) The scope for joint household/commercial waste collections: a case study. International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, 14, (6), 399-411. (doi:10.1080/13675567.2011.641526).
Waterson, Ben, Sunitiyoso, Yos, McDonald, Mike, Hoose, Neil and Polak, John W. (2009) Potential uses of the MESSAGE components and system. Traffic Engineering & Control, 50, (11), 489-492.
Brackstone, Mark, Waterson, Ben and McDonald, Mike (2009) Determinants of following headway in congested traffic. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 12, (2), 131-142. (doi:10.1016/j.trf.2008.09.003).
Maynard, S., Cherrett, T. and Waterson, B. (2009) Gauging HWRC performance from vehicle weigh-ticket data. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Waste and Resource Management, 162, (1), 37-43. (doi:10.1680/warm.2009.162.1.37).
Maynard, Sarah, Cherrett, Tom and Waterson, Ben (2009) Monitoring household waste recycling centres performance using mean bin weight analyses. Waste Management, 29, (2), 614-620. (doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2008.05.006).
Waterson, B.J., Cherrett, T.J. and McDonald, M. (2005) The use of simulation in the design of a road transport incident detection algorithm. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 56, (11), 1250-1257. (doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601973).
Cherrett, T., Waterson, B. and McDonald, M. (2005) Remote automatic incident detection using inductive loops. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Transport, 158, (3), 149-155. (doi:10.1680/tran.158.3.149.67118).
Waterson, B.J., Rajbhandari, B. and Hounsell, N.B. (2003) Simulating the impacts of strong bus priority measures. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 129, (6), 642-647. (doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2003)129:6(642)).
Cherrett, Tom, Waterson, Ben, McDonald, Mike, Clarke, Russell, Bangert, Alex and Morris, Ray (2002) Improved network monitoring using UTC detector data 'RAID'. Traffic Engineering and Control, 43, (4), 135-137.
Sultan, B., Brackstone, M., Waterson, B. and Boer, E.R. Transportation Research Board (2002) Modeling the dynamic cut-in situation. Transportation Research Record, 1803, 45-51. (doi:10.3141/1803-07).
Waterson, B.J., Hounsell, N.B. and Chatterjee, K. (2001) Quantifying the potential savings in travel time resulting from parking guidance systems - a simulation case study. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 52, (10), 1067-1077. (doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601207).

Book Section

Brackstone, M.A and Waterson, B.J. (2004) Are we looking where we are going? An exploratory examination of eye movement in high speed driving. In, Proceedings of the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board. 83rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board , Transportation Research Board.
McCullough, Francis, Jenkins, Marcus, Hermans, Filip, Haskins, David and Waterson, Ben (2003) ProbeIT: map information management framework for a hybrid navigation system using externally sourced data. In, Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services. 10th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services Madrid, Spain, 10th World Congress on ITS, 13pp.
Hermans, Filip, Haskins, David, Waterson, Ben, McCullough, Francis and Jenkins, Marcus (2003) ProbeIT: server design and data integration. In, Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services. 10th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services Madrid, Spain, 10th World Congress on ITS, 15pp.
Cherrett, Tom, Waterson, Ben, Morris, Ray and McDonald, Mike (2002) Identifying abnormal traffic congestion on non-signalised urban roads using journey time estimation. In, Proceedings of the 9th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services. Proceedings of the 9th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems Chicago, USA, 9th World Congress on ITS, 12pp.
Sultan, B., Brackstone, M.A., Waterson, B. J. and Boer, B (2002) Modeling the dynamic cut-in situation. In, Proceedings of the 81st Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board. 81st Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board Washington, US, Transportation Research Board.
Chatterjee, K., Hounsell, N. B., Waterson, B. J., Firmin, P.E and Bonsall, P.W (2000) Evaluation of the London driver information system: results from the CLEOPATRA study. In, Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Road Transport Information and Control. 10th International Conference on Road Transport Information and Control Piscataway, United States, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 22-26. (doi:10.1049/cp:20000097 ).

Conference or Workshop Item

Box, S., Lees-Miller, J., Snowdon, J., Hammond, J., Hamilton, A., Gupta, S., Wilson, R.E. and Waterson, B. (2013) 30 cars, figure of 8, 1 show: large scale proving ground experiments to investigate junction control. In, 45th Annual Conference of the Universities’ Transport Study Group, Oxford, GB, 02 - 04 Jan 2013.
Box, S., Snell, I., Waterson, B. and Wilson, R.E. (2013) Urban traffic state estimation for signal control using mixed data sources and the extended Kalman filter. In, 92nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C., US, 13 - 17 Jan 2013.
Cruickshanks, Scott, Cherrett, T.J., Waterson, Ben, Norgate, Sarah, Davies, Nigel, Speed, Chris and Dickinson, Janet (2013) Will privacy concerns limit the ability of smart phone technologies to help foster collaborative school travel? At 92nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, US, 13 - 17 Jan 2013. 15pp.
Hammond, James, Cherrett, T.J. and Waterson, B.J. (2013) Toward safer roadside behavior on the school journey through interactive video training. At 92nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, US, 13 - 17 Jan 2013. 15pp.
Bailey, Gavin, Cherrett, Tom, Waterson, Ben and Long, Robert (2013) The hidden life saver? Unattended locker box logistics for faster and more efficient hospital supply. At 92nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, US, 13 - 17 Jan 2013. 13pp.
Box, S., Snell, I., Waterson, B. and Hamilton, Andrew (2012) A methodology for traffic state estimation and signal control utilizing high wireless device penetration. In, 19th ITS World Congress, Vienna, Austria, 21 - 26 Oct 2012.
Cruickshanks, Scott and Waterson, Ben (2012) Privacy decision-making in the travel panopticon. In, The Amsterdam Privacy Conference, Amsterdam, NL, 07 - 10 Oct 2012.
Norton, B., Cherrett, T.J. and Waterson, B. (2012) Understanding the explanatory factors leading to variability in charity collection bank yields: implications for bank placement and logistics strategy. In, 17th Logistics Research Network Conference (LRN 2012), Cranfield, GB, 05 - 07 Sep 2012. 8pp.
Bailey, Gavin, Cherrett, T.J. and Waterson, Ben (2012) Can locker box logistics enable more human-centric medical supply chains? In, 17th Logistics Research Network Conference 2012, Cranfield University, Bedford, GB, 05 - 07 Sep 2012. 8pp.
Snowdon, James, Waterson, Ben and Fangohr, Hans (2012) The evolution of driver route switching behavior in stochastically perturbed networks. In, 4th International Symposium on Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA2012), Martha's Vinyard, US, 04 - 06 Jun 2012. 19pp.
Snowdon, James, Waterson, Ben and Fangohr, Hans (2012) Evolution of adaptive route choice behaviour in drivers. In, UTSG: 44th Annual Conference of the Universities' Transport Sudy Group, Aberdeen, GB, 04 - 06 Jan 2012.
Hamilton, Andrew, Waterson, Ben, Cherrett, Tom, Robinson, Andrew and Snell, Ian (2012) Urban traffic control evolution. In, UTSG: 44th Annual Conference of the Universities' Transport Study Group, Aberdeen, GB, 04 - 06 Jan 2012.
Bailey, Gavin, Cherrett, Tom and Waterson, Ben (2011) The internet of things for efficient medical logistics: a best practice review. In, 16th Annual Logistics Research Network (LRN) Conference, Southampton, GB, 07 - 09 Sep 2011. 1pp.
Waterson, Ben, Maynard , Sarah and Cherrett, Tom (2011) Analysis of mean bin weight data to monitor best practice at household waste recycling centres. In, 16th Annual Logistics Research Network (LRN) Conference, Southampton, GB, 07 - 09 Sep 2011.
Velazquez, Anthony, Cherrett, Tom and Waterson, Ben (2011) Sustainable technologies for auxiliary truck power and trailer refrigeration – a review of the evidence. In, 16th Annual Logistics Research Network (LRN) Conference, Southampton, GB, 07 - 09 Sep 2011.
Holdaway, David, Cherrett, Tom and Waterson, Ben (2011) Reducing the cost of supermarket returns. In, 16th Annual Logistics Research Network (LRN) Conference, Southampton, GB, 07 - 09 Sep 2011.
Hammond, James, Cherrett, Tom and Waterson, Ben (2011) An evaluation of child pedestrian training in the UK: the scope for interactive technologies to aid teaching. In, 43rd Annual Meeting of the Universities' Transport Study Group (UTSG), Milton Keynes, GB, 05 - 07 Jan 2011.
Howarth, Candice, Waterson, Ben and McDonald, Mike (2011) The importance of local road authorities in climate change awareness programmes. In, 43rd Annual Conference of the Universities' Transport Study Group (UTSG), Milton Keynes, GB, 05 - 07 Jan 2011.
Box, Simon and Waterson, Ben (2011) Machine learning in signalized junction control algorithms. In, 43rd Annual Conference of the Universities' Transport Study Group (UTSG), Milton Keynes, GB, 05 - 07 Jan 2011.
Cruickshanks, Scott and Waterson, Ben (2011) Are privacy fears associated with Intelligent Transport Systems justified? In, 43rd Annual Conference of the Universities' Transport Study Group (UTSG), Milton Keynes, GB, 05 - 07 Jan 2011.
Howarth, Candice, Waterson, Ben and McDonald, Mike (2010) Are European climate change awareness campaigns targeting correctly to encourage sustainable travel? In, European Transport Conference 2010, Glasgow, GB, 11 - 13 Oct 2010.
Box, Simon and Waterson, Ben (2010) Automated generation of S-Paramics models from GML data. 11th annual S-Paramics User Group Meeting and Conference , Birmingham, GB, 15 Sep 2010.
Box, Simon, Waterson, Ben and Hounsell, Nick (2010) A machine learning approach to signalised junction control. 11th annual S-Paramics User Group Meeting and Conference , Birmingham, GB,
Howarth, C., Waterson, B.J. and McDonald, M. (2010) Is making people aware of climate change enough to change travel behaviour? In, Annual International Conference of the RGS-IBG 2010, London, GB,
Box, S. and Waterson, B.J. (2010) Comparison of signalized junction control strategies that use localization probe data. In, RTIC 2010: Better transport through technology, London, GB, 25 - 27 May 2010.
Waterson, B.J. and Box, S. (2010) Determining rail network accessibility. In, 5th IMA Conference on Mathematics in Transport , London, UK, 12 - 14 Apr 2010.
Box, S. and Waterson, B. J. (2010) Comparison of signalized junction control strategies using individual vehicle position data. In, 5th IMA Conference on Mathematics in Transport, London, UK, 12 - 14 Apr 2010.
Howarth, C, Waterson, B.J. and McDonald, M. (2010) Perceived behavioural control and the role of information on climate change in increasing sustainable travel. In, 42nd Annual UTSG Conference, Plymouth, UK, 05 - 07 Jan 2010.
Box, S. and Waterson, B.J. (2010) Signal control using vehicle localization probe data. In, 42nd Annual Conference of the Universities' Transport Study Group, Plymouth, UK, 05 - 07 Jan 2010.
Howarth, Candice, Waterson, Ben and McDonald, Mike (2009) Public understanding of climate change and the gaps between knowledge, attitudes and travel behavior. Transportation Research Board 88th Annual Meeting, Washington DC, USA, 11 - 15 Jan 2009. Washington DC, USA, Transportation Research Board.
Sunitiyoso, Y., Waterson, B. J. and McDonald, M. (2009) Toward informed travellers: Developing a real-time route planner with consideration of travellers’ exposure to air pollution. In, 16th ITS World Congress Stockholm 2009, Stockholmsmassan, Sweden, 21 - 25 Sep 2009.
Maynard, S., Cherrett, T.J. and Waterson, Ben (2008) Analysis of mean bin weight data to monitor best practice at HWRCs. In, 40th Annual Conference of the Universities' Transport Study Group, Portsmouth, UK, 03 - 05 Jan 2008.
Richards, A.C., Beecroft, M.E., Waterson, B.J. and McDonald, M. (2008) The role of lift sharing in future urban mobility. In, 40th Annual Conference of the Universities' Transport Study Group, Portsmouth, UK, Jan 2008.
Wells, Andy, Waterson, Ben, McDonald, Mike and Tarrant, David (2007) Accessibility planning for cyclists. In, 39th Annual Conference of the Universities' Transport Study Group, Harrogate, UK, 03 - 05 Jan 2007. 12pp.
Li, Y., Waterson, B. J. and McDonald, M. (2007) Collection and use of environmental data for transport management: a view from local authorities. 14th ITS World Congress, Beijing, CN, 09 - 13 Oct 2007.
Cherrett, T.J., Waterson, B.J. and Hounsell, N.B. (2006) Running a Satellite MSc programme in China: experiences of teaching from the first year joint MSc Transportation Planning and Engineering programme between the University of Southampton and the Beijing Jiaotong University. In, The International learner: Enhancing the Student Experience conference, Southampton, UK, Sep 2006.
Waterson, B.J. (2005) A data fusion framework for travel time estimation in urban traffic networks. In, Mathematics in Transport Conference IV, London, UK, Sep 2005.
Waterson, B.J. and Cherrett, T.J. (2004) The use of simulation modelling in the design of a road transport incident detection algorithm. In, 46th Annual Conference of the Operational Research Society, York, UK, 07 - 09 Sep 2004.
Waterson, B.J., Chatterjee, K. and Hounsell, N.B. (1999) Simulating the effectiveness of parking guidance systems. In, 41st Annual Conference of the Operational Research Society, Edinburgh, GB,

Monograph

Kemp, Paul S., Russon, Iain J., Waterson, Ben J., O'Hanley, Jesse and Pess, George R. (2008) Recommendations for a "coarse-resolution rapid-assessment" methodology to assess barriers to fish migration, and associated prioritization tools. Southampton, UK, International Centre for Ecohydraulic Research, 143pp.
 

Research

Research Interests

Primary research group:  Transportation Group

Teaching Responsibilities

CodeTitleRole
CENV6044 RESEARCH PROJECT: TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND ENGINEERINGLecturer
CENV6088 TRANSPORTATION PLANNING: POLICIES AND METHODSLecturer
CENV6109 TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING: TRANSPORT MANAGEMENTLecturer
CENV6153 TRANSPORT MODELLINGCoordinator
CENV6124 TRANSPORT DATA ANALYSIS AND TECHNIQUESCoordinator

Contact

Dr Ben Waterson
Engineering and the Environment
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton
SO17 1BJ

Room Number: 22/2025

Telephone: (023) 8059 2345
Facsimile: (023) 8059 3152
Email: B.J.Waterson@soton.ac.uk