A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPMENT OF AN AREA TRAFFIC SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL SYSTEM (PARTS 1 & 2)

A STUDY WAS PERFORMED FOR THE BPR TO DETERMINE FEASIBLE TECHNIQUES AND SYSTEMS FOR SURVEILLANCE OF VEHICULAR TRAFFIC OVER LARGE AREAS. BOTH RESEARCH ON AND CONTROL OF URBAN TRAFFIC PROCESSES WERE CONSIDERED. THE NECESSARY TRAFFIC PARAMETERS FOR EACH VEHICLE ARE SPEED, ACCELERATION, HEADWAY (SPACE AND TIME), VOLUME, SPACE OCCUPANCY, AND CLASSIFICATION. THE POSITION OF VEHICLES MUST BE MEASURED TO ABOUT ONE FOOT. A BROAD SURVEY OF TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES WAS CONDUCTED ON (1) DISCRETE VEHICLE PRESENCE SENSORS; (2) PHOTOGRAPHIC AND TV OPTICAL CAMERAS; (3) INFRARED SENSORS; (4) RADAR; (5) GOUBAU TRANSMISSION LINES; (6) SPACE PLATFORMS, ETC. THE DISCRETE VEHICLE SENSORS ARE TREADLE, MAGNETIC, SONIC, RF LOOP, RADAR, AND OPTICAL. ANALOG AND DIGITAL TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES FOR DATA PROCESSING WERE STUDIED. THIS INVOLVED DETAILED INVESTIGATIONS OF (1) OPTICAL-MATCHED-SPATIAL-FILTERS FOR RECOGNIZING VEHICLES IN PHOTOGRAPHS, (2) SIMPLE LOGIC AND COUNTING CIRCUITS FOR DATA REDUCTION, (3) LARGE CENTRAL PROCESSORS FOR THE CALCULATION OF TRAFFIC PARAMETERS. THE FOLLOWING FOUR SYSTEMS WERE TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE. (1) DISCRETE SENSOR SYSTEM: VEHICLE (PRESENCE) SENSORS ARE ARRANGED IN PAIRS ON ROADWAY LANES; THE INFORMATION IS LOCALLY PROCESSED, THEN SENT TO A CENTRAL PROCESSOR BY A TELEPHONE LINE WHERE THE TRAFFIC PARAMETERS ARE CALCULATED. (2) 'LARGE VIEW-LAPSED TIME' PROCESSOR SYSTEM: AN AIRBORNE CAMERA TAKES A SEQUENCE OF PICTURES OF THE SAME AREA; THE PICTURES ARE SENT TO THE GROUND STATION AND DEVELOPED; AN OPTICAL-MATCHED-SPATIAL-FILTER AND IMAGE-PLANE-SCANNER PROCESSES THE PICTURES AND REDUCES THEM TO A SET OF VEHICLE LOCATIONS; THESE ARE USED BY THE CENTRAL PROCESSOR TO CALCULATE THE TRAFFIC PARAMETERS. (3) 'LARGE VIEW - REAL TIME' PROCESSOR SYSTEM: SAME AS (2) EXCEPT THAT THE CAMERA AND FILM ARE REPLACED BY A TV CAMERA AND A LINE-OF-SIGHT COMMUNICATION LINK. (4) 'LOCAL AREA - REAL TIME' SYSTEM: MILLIMETER RADAR COVERING PLUS OR MINUS 500 FT. OF EACH LANE IS USED; THE OUTPUT IS PROCESSED AND SENT TO THE CENTRAL COMPUTER. THE IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS FOR THESE SYSTEMS ARE AREA COVERAGE, TIME COVERAGE, RELIABILITY, FREQUENCY OF MEASUREMENT, MEASUREMENT PROCESS CYCLE TIME, ACCURACY, AND COST. THE APPLICATIONS ARE FOR RESEARCH OR CONTROL AND MAY BE MADE TO ROADWAY NETWORKS, URBAN FREEWAYS AND LONG TRAFFIC CORRIDORS. THE DISCRETE SENSOR SYSTEM IS MOST PROMISING. THE OPTICAL SYSTEMS SUFFER WHEN VISIBILITY IS POOR ALTHOUGH FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES, (2) OR (3) ARE MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE. /AUTHOR/

• Corporate Authors:

  Department of Transportation

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Whitten, J R
• Publication Date: 1969-2

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aerial photography; Cameras; Highway traffic; Information processing; Infrared detectors; Measuring instruments; Optical scanners; Photography; Radar; Sensors; Television cameras; Traffic control; Traffic surveillance; Urban areas
• Old TRIS Terms: Airborne cameras; Traffic control systems; Vehicular traffic
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225685
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Traffic Systems Reviews & Abstracts
• Report/Paper Numbers: No Fh-11-6379
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jun 15 1970 12:00AM