Video Technologies for Roadway Surveillance and Automated Detection

Closed circuit television (CCTV) systems deployed on roadway networks are believed to be among the best mechanisms for providing useful, reliable information for effective traffic management. Video images may be displayed and viewed directly by traffic management per­ sonnel for surveillance purposes, or may be processed electronicaJly for detection of traffic metrics such as aver­ age vehicle speed, flow volume, and traffic density. This paper summarizes the current state-of-the art in video imaging and video signal processing technology for traffic surveillance and electronic detection. Technical considerations relevant to the selection of video cameras and computer vision hardware and software for this appli­ cation are reviewed. Applicable standards are identified, and evaluation criteria and test procedures are described. Commercially available monochrome and color video cameras are examined with respect to sited criteria. The operational characteristics and performance of commer­ cially available and experimental real-time video traffic detection (VTD) systems are summarized. General con­ siderations and evaluation results are reported. Limita­ tions and areas for further development are identified.