Commercial Operations

The German standardization initiatives OCIT and OTS aim at manufacturer mixable traffic
control systems. The specification of a controller-internal interface for traffic actuated control
methods contributes to this aim. This interface enables the unified interaction with different
traffic actuated control methods, so that the actual programming effort is no longer necessary
when integrating a control method into a certain type of controller. Traffic actuated control
methods may be easily exchanged with each other. To prove the operational reliability of the
interface, a prototypical traffic light controller has been developed. The novel system
architecture primarily is characterized by the separation of the safety and the traffic control
system parts. The developed prototype has been tested successfully in no-load operation at a
real intersection with the traffic actuated control methods TRELAN/TRENDS and VS-PLUS.

Technische Universität Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig

Institut f. Automation und Kommunikation e.V. Magdeburg

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

We present in this paper a method to stabilize video acquired by a fisheye camera that has been mounted underneath a cable-suspended traffic light. With cable suspension, the light, and hence the camera, tend to swing in the wind implying that stationary structures appear to move in the acquired video. To make use of the video for higher level computer vision functions, such as the detection and tracking of moving vehicles, we must account for this motion. In the proposed approach, we first select a set of salient points on fixed structures in a reference image. We then track the motion of these points in subsequent digital images using the Lucas-Kanade algorithm. Based upon the measured movement of the fixed points, we compute a mapping between the fisheye coordinate systems of the subsequent images and that of the reference image. To stabilize the video, we use these mappings to resample the fisheye images so that they are aligned with the reference fisheye image. We demonstrate the results of our approach on real data.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Aldis, Inc.

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

The use of smartcards as a new media for ticketing for transport services is commonplace in
many countries, including parts of the UK and the United States, and is particularly successful
in Asia. However, for a technology that has been in use for more than two decades, the take
up of such systems in UK is probably not as widespread as one would expect considering the
benefits that can be derived from smartcard-based system and also the apparent commitment
of UK government to this media.

Newcastle University

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

As part of its SmartPark program, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) conducted a field operations test of two technologies, video imaging and magnetometry, to assess their suitability for determining the occupancy of truck parking areas. Neither technology met its established performance targets, particularly for vehicle classification. The test also revealed a number of user behaviors (such as dropped trailers) indicating that the successful use of automated detection technology for a truck parking area will require accurate vehicle classification and will be more challenging than that for a car parking area with only one type of vehicle and controlled access.

Volpe National Transportation systems Center

Presented at the 18th World Congress on ITS, October 2011, Orlando, Florida

In cities and urban areas the road is the only real alternative for freight
transport, and the freight distribution vehicles have negative effects on the traffic
situation, the environmental and the safety. It is also clear that the efficiency of the
urban freight transport has to be improved. Smarter freight distribution in urban areas
will need intervention from both the commercial fleet operators themselves, as well as
from the city authorities. 
SMARTFREIGHT is a project founded by EU’s FP7. The project aims to improve the
freight distribution in cities by means of the new CALM infrastructure using wireless
communication and open services towards on-board and on-cargo equipment. Key
issues are traffic management of individual freight vehicles based on the vehicle and
cargo profile; and better coordination between the traffic management of the city and
the freight distribution operators.

SINTEF ICT

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York