Case study

I-66 highway uses smart shoulder to move traffic Automatic Incident Detection helps smooth the process.

Organization: VDOT

Location: Virginia, USA

Industry segment: Traffic

App lication: Automatic Incident Detection Managed lanes

Mission Automatic Incident Detection (AID) system to monitor the shoulders. Since I-66 is the only Interstate Highway running west from Washington, D.C., The AID system uses video streams from into Northern Virginia, traffic on the fixed traffic cameras in order to identify road is often extremely heavy. incidents and accidents. The system then alerts operators in real time. In order to improve traffic flow, the Virginia Department of Transportation The shoulder is now opened for travel has implemented a number of initiatives by the operators when the speed drops, such as HOV (high occupancy vehicle) indicating that traffic is congested, and lanes and allowing vehicles to drive closed again when traffic lightens up. on the shoulder at set times during morning and evening rush hours. Result With the continuous increase of traffic, Citilog’s AID systems detect incidents VDOT has been looking for solutions and accidents more effectively, thus ensuring that those incidents are cleared to open the shoulder to traffic dynamically, faster and traffic is returned to normal i.e. depending on actual traffic conditions. as quickly as possible. Solution The system also made it easier to open the VDOT installed dynamic message signs shoulder on demand by monitoring the on gantries along I-66 using a red cross shoulder 24/7 for stopped vehicles and or a green arrow to indicate whether making sure the shoulder is available the shoulder is open to traffic or not. when it needs to be opened. VDOT also deployed Citilog’s video-based www.citilog.com

“The Citilog Automatic Incident Detection system made it easier to open the shoulder on demand which has been increasingly needed to face the increase of traffic.“

Mission shoulder is open to traffic or not. The McConnell Safety and Transportation The AID system uses 112 fixed cameras Operations Center in Fairfax, Virginia on the I-66 and 22 cameras on sections (USA) is a high-tech complex that brings of the I-495 to monitor the shoulders. Fairfax County’s 911 services, Virginia The AID system uses video streams from I66 map State Police, the Virginia Department of traffic cameras. Those video streams are Transportation’s traffic management processed by a Video Detection Unit center and other agencies together by means of an algorithm that identifies under one roof. This joint facility has and tracks moving objects (vehicles), been in operation since 2008 and the computes their trajectories and identifies State DOT is responsible for monitoring stopped vehicles. The system catches and operating all roads in the county. incidents in real time and alerts operators The Transportation Operations Center both with audible alarms and with Transportation Operations Center (TOC) (TOC) is particularly responsible for the on-screen highlighting of the incident. The interstate highways I-95, I-495, I-395 incident is currently displayed using Citilog and I66 which total nearly 100 miles. Graphical User Interface. Since 1992, VDOT has authorized The Citilog AID system will soon interface drivers to use the shoulder on I-66 at with VDOT’s statewide Traffic management set times during the morning rush system. hours east bound and in the evening Shoulder open to traffic (green arrow dynamic sign) The shoulder is opened by the action of west bound. the VDOT TOC operator. When the When the left HOV lane was added in speed drops below 45 mph the opera- 1992 outside the Beltway, there was no tor is notified and opens the shoulder. possibility to widen the road e and When the speed goes over 55 mph, the hence the road capacity was restricted. shoulder is closed. As a consequence, the shoulder was VDOT used to have a PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) increasingly opened to traffic, still at Shoulder closed to traffic (red cross dynamic sign) camera tour to “sweep” the entire I-66, fixed times: initially opened from 6am to and a highway patrol vehicle would 9am (Eastbound), now opened from drive along the shoulder to check for 5:30am to 11am. obstacles or vehicles that would prevent As part of the I-66 Active Traffic the shoulder from opening. Management System project, VDOT Now that the shoulder in opened on decided to open the shoulder demand whenever there is congestion, Highway patrol on site to clear incident dynamically when traffic was very dense VDOT cannot afford to wait 10 minutes or congested outside of the fixed times for the tour with PTZ camera be completed. defined. The AID systems monitors the shoulder In order to achieve a safe operation, 24/7 for stopped vehicles and makes VDOT deployed a set of dynamic sure the shoulder is available when it message signs and a video-based needs to be opened. Automatic Incident Detection (AID) system. Detection of an accident The shoulder is still opened at fixed The dynamic message signs are times, and outside of these times it is mounted on gantries and indicate via a opened dynamically. red cross or a green arrow whether the

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