Project Description
New technologies can use video feeds from new and existing cameras to automatically detect roadway conditions. This includes counting the number of vehicles that pass through each lane, the amount of time an intersection is blocked by stopped traffic, and the percent of vehicles that turn at a particular intersection. This also includes identifying situations where vulnerable road users, like cyclists and pedestrians, come into dangerously close contact with other vehicles. This safety information can indicate the need for change before collisions actually occur.
This pilot project is deploying two different devices to evaluate their accuracy and impact on staff's standard processes.
ITS+ Thunder
The "Thunder" unit is supplied by the company ITS+, which Alexandria has historically used for other traffic management purposes. The value of this tool is that it can leverage existing video streams collected by the city. In Alexandria's Transportation Management Center, live footage from dozens of cameras are streamed to monitors. The Thunder unit processes up to six of these video streams simultaneously, unlocking new value for the cameras that were installed as part of the Intelligent Transportation Systems project.
The Thunder specializes in classifying road users into buckets like "cyclist", "truck", "bus", or "pedestrian", and tracking their trajectories throughout an intersection. This information allows staff to count how many vehicles use each lane or where they turn, which would otherwise require staff or contractors to go out to the field.
Viva City Labs
The Viva City Labs tool uses machine learning to identify road users that are often missed by other forms of detection like induction loops. This approach empowers an in-depth study of how Alexandria's streets are used by all travelers, aligning with the city's goals to provide multi-modal transportation options. Viva provides a specialized device that will focus on one intersection specifically, East Braddock Road & North West Street. This sensor includes a number of features to monitor behavior through: classified counts, speed, dwell times, tracks, zone occupancy, tracks, and turning counts. If successful in improving Alexandria's safety goals, this tool and others like it could be scaled to other intersections in the city.
