Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is one of the most popular dimensionality-reduction Environmental Management and Sustainable Development ISSN 2164-7682 2014 www.macrothink.org/emsd 95 techniques used for the purpose of classification. It has gained popularity because of its ease of use and optimal nature in a mean square error sense. This paper focuses on an analysis of PCA as a classification tool for rainfall images. Rainfall maps were generated using monthly precipitation data from 226 stations over Mauritius for the years 1992 to 1995 and also for the mean monthly rainfall for the years 1961 to 1990. Three different methods of applying PCA were then used on the rainfall maps and each method generated principal components reflecting the relevant percentage of variability. To interpret these components, a study of the various rainfall bearing climate systems and the wind-field active in Mauritius proved to be necessary to enable their association of the most significant principal components. The effect of altitude on rainfall has been found to have most dominant effect on rainfall. Other climate systems such as the ITCZ, cyclones, anticyclones, cold fronts and the perturbation of easterlies were also found to have specific rainfall patterns associated with them.

This paper aims at analyzing three different solutions suggested for traffic congestion relief in Port Louis, the busiest city of Mauritius. It evaluates the impact of the three alternatives which are the use of Light Rail Transit (LRT) as an alternative mode of transport, the construction of a Ring road around Port Louis, and the upgrading of the current bus network into a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. The impact of these three solutions has been evaluated by performing Traffic Cellular Automata (TCA) simulations. Our studies reveal that the Ring road will lead to more congestion while introducing the LRT or upgrading the current bus network will reduce congestion significantly.

The Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) algorithms are widely used in the field of telecommunications for transmission of data over computer networks. Traffic Cellular Automata (TCA) is a technique that has proved to be very efficient in simulating large-scale road traffic networks. In this paper a multicell TCA model that includes anticipation and probability randomization has been hybridized with the RIP and EIGRP algorithms. Simulation was performed on a small network and the performance of these two algorithms compared and analyzed. The results show that the EIGRP algorithm, through an adaptive routing of vehicles, achieves reduced travel times, more space-headway and lower traffic densities.

In this paper a Traffic Cellular Automata (TCA) simulation of a highly congested round-about in Mauritius is performed. The simulations are performed using a multi-cell model that includes anticipation and probability randomization. The simulation model is first calibrated to match actual traffic count statistics taken at the round-about. The topology of the round-about is then modified and the TCA model is used to predict the impact on the congestion level of different changes made. The simulation results enable the assessment of the impact on the traffic density and travel time of the different modifications made. It has been found that the construction of a flyover bridge at the round-about will be the most convenient solution to alleviate congestion and improve the flux significantly.

Expansion of a road network has often been observed to cause more congestion and has led researchers to the formulation of traffic paradoxes such as the Pigou–Downs and the Braess paradoxes. In this paper, we present an application of advanced traffic signal control (ATSC) to overcome the Pigou–Downs paradox. Port Louis, the capital city of Mauritius is used to investigate the effect of using a harbor bridge to by-pass the city center. Using traffic cellular automata (TCA) simulations it has been shown how, if traffic is only gradually deviated along the by-pass, an overall longer travel time and decreased flux would result. By making use of ATSC, which involves traffic lights that sense the number of vehicles accumulated in the queue, better travel times and fluxes are achieved.