Large Field Test of New Stereo Detection System for the Pedestrian Signal Phase for the Visually Impaired

In March 2010, a large field test study was conducted on a stereo pedestrian detection system in four cities in four States under the Federal Highway Administration’s Small Business Innovative Research program. The objective was to prove that the stereo vision would reliably detect pedestrians in real-world environments under all weather conditions (e.g., sunny, cloudy, foggy, rainy, and snowy) and extreme temperatures (e.g., very high temperatures in the southern part of the country and very low temperature in the northern part of the country) and determine that the system effectively actuates pedestrian calls and locator tones on accessible pedestrian signals (APSs). The study was conducted in Tucson, AZ; Somerville, MA; Portland, ME; and Manchester, NH. The stereo pedestrian detection systems were installed to evaluate their performance in complex real-world pedestrian/traffic environments under all weather conditions and extreme temperatures. A total of 17 systems, consisting of one computer and two cameras per crossing, were installed at 9 geographically disparate test sites. These were installed at both midblock crossings and at intersections. When pedestrians were detected at crosswalk ramps, the system automatically actuated both regular and APS pushbuttons to make the service request on behalf of the pedestrians. System performances were evaluated using images saved in external hard disks. Results from the testing showed that the overall positive detection rate for the automated APS actuation zones in all four cities was close to 98 percent, with the average number of false calls per day less than three. This excellent performance was confirmed through the real operations of systems installed at the test sites. Currently, all of the systems are operational 24 h a day, 7 days a week. Comments from the general public, including the blind and visually impaired community, were all positive. This system provides automated actuation of pushbuttons based on the presence of pedestrians. This provides the protection of pedestrian phases, thereby reducing the possibility of collisions between vehicles and pedestrians, preventing unnecessary fatalities, and automatically extending the walk time for seniors and wheelchair pedestrians without slowing down the traffic flow.

• Record URL:
  http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/operations/12047/12074.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/41732
• Corporate Authors:

  Migma Systems

  1600 Providence Highway
  Walpole, MA  United States  02081

  Federal Highway Administration

  Research, Development and Technology
  6300 Georgetown Pike
  McLean, VA  United States  22101
• Authors:
  • Ling, Bo
  • Gibson, David
  • Bentzen, Billie Louise
  • Burton, Paul
  • Boudreau, Neil
  • Bobinsky, Mike
  • Hoben, Jim
• Publication Date: 2012-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Field Test Report
• Features: Bibliography; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 154p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crosswalks; Field tests; Pedestrian actuated controllers; Pedestrian detectors; Pedestrian movement; Pedestrian phase; Visually impaired persons; Weather
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01491460
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-HRT-12-074
• Contract Numbers: DTRT5706C10030
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Sep 3 2013 12:25PM