The City of Beijing Traffic Management Bureau and Wavetronix.
The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics highlighted an issue facing much of China: infrastructure construction is not keeping up with population demand. China is one of the fastest growing vehicle markets in the world with an estimated 20,000 new vehicles hitting the road each day. The problems at the Olympics were exasperated by an increase in tourist traffic and a need to quickly and easily install an intelligent transportation system powerful enough to handle Beijing’s tough traffic problems.
The systems created for the Olympic Games needed to be highly accurate and reliable. Detection devices also had to accurately detect traffic over eight to 10 lanes. Inductive loops take too long to install and were unreliable and unable to adapt to changing traffic patterns.
SmartSensor HD was selected for the project because it proved to be more accurate than video detection, and much easier to install than loops or other non-intrusive devices. Min Der Day, director of Asia ITS for Wavetronix, said HD’s ease of installation came in handy because, with the high amount of work needed to prepare for the games, the ITS system had to be deployed in the overnight hours.
The end result saw more than 200 HD units installed at strategic locations around the city with self-sustaining solar power and wireless communications. The sensors provided real-time traffic information for some of the most important roadways in Beijing, including the newly-constructed Airport Expressway; the Badaling Expressway that leads to the Great Wall; the Beijing-to-Chengde Expressway; and internal Ring Roads Two and Five – major routes between Olympic venues. Data was used to update variable message signs for real-time traffic information as well as for television, radio and Internet traffic information.
“Customers want our product because it delivers what it promises.”–MIN DER DAY, DIRECTOR OF ASIA ITS FOR WAVETRONIX
HD is able to accurately detect traffic on up to 22 lanes of traffic, is easy to install and is highly reliable over time. Wavetronix also works directly with the Traffic Management Bureau to ensure a rapid and proper deployment.
“Customers want our product because it delivers what it promises,” says Day. “Today roads throughout Beijing are monitored by SmartSensor HD.”
