For years, the prevailing attitude in transportation circles was to build more lanes, bigger roads and more complex infrastructure to solve transportation problems. In hindsight, this philosophy was expensive, self-defeating and ultimately unsustainable.
Perhaps it was the economic collapse that helped change the idea that you can build your way out of transportation problems. Using existing technology in new and interesting ways to solve existing problems became the hallmark of a quality traffic engineer.
Every day, traffic engineers across the globe use the proven accuracy and dependability of Wavetronix SmartSensor radar vehicle sensors in innovative ways to create new solutions to wicked problems.
Astana, Kazakhstan is one of the most interesting cities in the world. Since it was named the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, its population has boomed from just fewer than 300,000 to nearly one million. As Astana grows, it has become one of the most important cultural and economic centers in central Asia. Its location in almost the exact geographical center of the Euro-Asian continent makes it an important crossroad for economic and transportation activity as well. With this tremendous growth come a few problems. First, because it is continuing to grow and evolve, Astana’s traffic patterns can be unpredictable and must evolve along with the city. Second, Astana is a cold city. With temperatures often reaching -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit) road surfaces tend to suffer.
Both of these problems make utilizing intrusive inductive loops for vehicle detection unsuitable. Because loops are literally set in stone, they are impossible to relocate in order to accommodate changing traffic patterns. Likewise, cold temperatures wreak havoc on road surfaces and even the smallest crack can ruin an in-road detection scheme.
Astana utilizes SmartSensor HD and Matrix because they are non-intrusive devices that are easy to move and calibrate in order to keep up with an ever-changing roadway landscape. Wavetronix radar sensors are not affected by temperature and do not rely on the stability of the roadway in order to operate. In fact, SmartSensor HD has only a 1.57 percent failure rate worldwide based on sales and qualified sensor returns.
Viktor Masalevichius, chief expert on traffic at SMEU-Astana, said the accuracy and flexibility of SmartSensor products allows Astana’s traffic infrastructure to keep up with a growing and changing population without regard to weather. “With the help of SmartSensors, we were able to eliminate the use of inductive loops in the asphalt,” Masalevichius said.
The Oregon Department of Transportation had a problem. At the interchange between Interstate 84 and Interstate 208 east of Portland a large number of rear-end collisions were occurring.
The problem had to do with a tunnel that drivers must enter in order to merge from westbound I-85 onto southbound I-205. This tunnel features a sharp left turn just beyond the opening, creating a blind curve that often sees vehicle congestion. Motorists would enter the tunnel at full speed and would not be able to see stopped traffic around the turn, resulting in numerous collisions.
The solution the Oregon DOT came up with involved two SmartSensor Advance units and one SmartSensor Matrix unit. Advance is usually used to sense vehicles in the dilemma zone at the approach to an intersection; Matrix is used for stop bar detection. However, working with Advanced Traffic Products, an authorized Wavetronix channel partner, ODOT developed a system to use these sensors to prevent collisions at the tunnel.
Advance is able to detect speed and range of vehicles, so the two Advance units are used to sense traffic ahead and behind the problematic areas. The first Advance unit detects traffic backups on the merge ramp while the other faces the tunnel exit to detect traffic speeds at the turn. The Matrix sensor utilizes its patented Radar Vision to detect and stopped traffic that may be queueing behind the blind curve. If any or all of the sensors detect slowed or stopped traffic, then a flashing warning sign located at the tunnel’s entrance is activated warning motorists to slow down.
ODOT signal manager Doug Anderson said the innovative use of Advance and Matrix has made the problematic area much safer for drivers.
Question: How many road workers should die in order to create an efficient transportation system? How many should be seriously injured?
In England, the Highway’s Agency decided the answer to both of these questions should be zero. The HA created the Aiming for Zero campaign, which aspires to “eliminate all fatalities, serious injuries and long-term ill health to road workers.”
This goal is not a simple one. In the past decade, 13 workers were killed and more than a hundred were injured while working on England’s motorways and major A roads. In order to combat this, the Aiming for Zero campaign is focusing on a number of ways to keep workers safe, including a program to reduce the time workers need to spend on the actual roadway.
Traditionally, inductive loops have been used in the UK for vehicle detection. Their high accuracy makes them a favorite around the world, but the fact that they need to be installed in the road surface is problematic for many reasons. First, they are difficult to install, requiring a team of workers to close lanes and spend hours on active carriageways. Second, they have a low reliability rate, as any shift in the pavement can cause a breakdown. This means teams have to spend even more time on busy roadways for repairs. In order to keep workers out of dangerous roads, the Highways Agency decided to go with non-intrusive detection.
SmartSensor HD is the only above-the-road detection proven to provide the same data as loops with comparable accuracy. It installs in minutes on the side of the road and its proven reliability means workers seldom have to repair a sensor once it’s installed. As a result, workers spend less time on the road and in harm’s way.
It’s been proven time and again that traffic engineers are more than up to the challenge of creating solutions to some of traffic’s most troubling problems, but they need the right tools to do the job. Wavetronix SmartSensor products are accurate and reliable and have years of proven performance, making them the ideal detection solution for engineers who want innovative solutions to wicked problems.
