Patent CA-3210895-A1 (CA)
Title: A practical method to collect and measure traffic flow data through ip cameras for origin-destination survey studies and for other uses
Inventor: VAUDRIN FRANCOIS
IPC: G08G1/04
Filed: 2023-09-01
Abstract: To conduct traffic studies, it might be essential to have reliable, accurate, and up-to-date traffic flow data. However, traffic flow data seem to be generally unavailable, not up to date, inaccurate, and difficult to access.  Nevertheless, one of the most recognized methods for collecting traffic data appears to be through Origin-Destination surveys (0/D). These can, for example, help to estimate the effects of telework on traffic following the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recommends a variety of approaches for carrying out O/D surveys, but these have significant limitations. It seems necessary to collect data from thousands of households and drivers through surveys, questionnaires, and interviews, and it appears that these surveys are very expensive and can be conducted only every five to ten years. Traffic data can therefore quickly become obsolete, be distorted by bias or poor sampling, and might require complex statistical methods. In addition, O/D surveys do not seem to consider short-term variations, and they might generate inaccurate traffic patterns. My invention aims to obtain more accurate Origin-Destination surveys that could make data more conveniently accessible. It also aims for the gathered data to be more conveniently accessed by cities, transport agencies, public bodies, and others. My method can provide for the installation of a series of Internet Protocol (IP) cameras to measure traffic flows simultaneously or quasi-simultaneously on different sections of a road or highway network around an urban agglomeration. It can make it possible to measure movements quickly and conveniently from one part of a city to another.   It appears to provide access to reliable data, without the need to collect large-scale sampling or to use data disseminated by various suppliers, such as mobile device and GPS suppliers. It can also avoid the installation of expensive devices that have to be integrated into the IT systems of cities, agencies, and public bodies. My invention appears to be a simple, accurate, practical, and economic method to improve the results of 0/D surveys and for other uses that can extend to the permanent and automated management of traffic and mobility in real time. It can transform static traffic signal systems into dynamic ones without the need to implement major changes to current systems. SPECIFICATION TITLE: A PRACTICAL METHOD TO COLLECT AND MEASURE TRAFFIC  FLOW DATA THROUGH IP CAMERAS FOR ORIGIN-DESTINATION  SURVEY STUDIES AND FOR OTHER USES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention belongs to the field of Transportation and Traffic research as well as the methodologies behind them. EXISTING CURRENT SYSTEMS To conduct traffic studies, it might be essential to have reliable, accurate, and up-to-date data on traffic flows. One of the most recognized and commonly used methods might be to collect travel data through Origin-Destination or travel surveys. However, Origin-Destination surveys may have significant limitations such as high costs, data that can quickly become obsolete as travel habits change over time, and a lack of precision due to low response rates and potential biases. Besides, data from mobile devices and GPS navigation systems may not be practical and economic solutions for conducting Origin-Destination surveys because they appear to be disseminated among several providers, and there might be legal, security, and privacy issues to consider. Other approaches, like installing devices permanently along roads, can also have disadvantages due to the wide range of equipment on the market, the costs of purchase, installation, and maintenance, and the complexity of data processing. Even if there seems to be a multitude of approaches in image recognition and artificial vision, one might consider problems with lighting, visibility, and temperature. Also, it might be unthinkable to track all vehicles from their departure points to their arrival destinations. In addition, large-scale routes between various parts of a geographic region might need to be inferred, which is a very complex task. The purpose of my invention aims to collect and process accurate traffic flow data to estimate the movements of a group of vehicles without necessarily identifying all of them in a very precise way. My method could improve the accuracy of data collected from Origin-Destination surveys and measure traffic flows at any time of day or night, heading toward or away from city centers or between various parts of a city. In addition, my method can be used for other purposes, such as automated management of traffic systems in real-time. For example, traffic data collected with my invention can be used to adapt traffic light systems in real-time from a Traffic Management Center. Furthermore, it appears that the two widely deployed Traffic Light Systems (TLS) are the Static-TLS and the Adaptive TLS. The Static-TLS appears to be programmed for a given period, meaning that the duration of cycles and phases cannot change during that entire period, regardless of traffic flow variations. These periods could be morning rush hour, afternoon rush hour, noon, evening, night, weekends, and so on. On the other hand, Adaptive TLS appears to partially respond to demand.  They generally work with detection loops installed under the pavement and connected to a controller installed near the traffic light system. The main limitations of Static TLS appear to be that they do not respond efficiently to demand variations. Another flaw is that most of them do not seem to be updated frequently enough. Regarding Adaptive TLS, they appear to be too expensive to buy, install, and maintain. Also, they seem to be complicated to operate, and many experts doubt their effectiveness. Regarding these systems, it is a concept that has been around for almost a hundred years (since the late 1920s), particularly static systems.  Nevertheless, it seems that there are now almost 400,000 Traffic Light Systems in North America. Modifying them would be too expensive, much less replacing them. My invention might transform current Traffic Light Systems to be more effective, without modifying them from top to bottom and without installing complex and expensive accessories whose effectiveness is unknown.   BENEFITS The availability of comprehensive, accurate, and easily accessible traffic flows appears to be the essential ingredient to enable traffic engineers, experts, consultants, staff of cities, and government agencies to assess traffic problems. Origin-Destination surveys seem to be a recognized method that is used in most major cities and regions in North America and elsewhere in the world. These surveys likely involve collecting a huge amount of data from interviews, online and paper questionnaires, and field interviews. For example, the next Origin-Destination survey in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec in Canada appears to involve polling 40,000 people. My approach could take a different perspective by estimating Origin to Destination trips from the distribution of traffic flow on the network. And this objective can be achieved with my method by using IP cameras judiciously distributed on the road network, as shown in Figure 1: 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106. Since traffic volume can give clues to the distribution of trips, my method aims to reconstruct these trips based on variations in traffic volume at different locations captured by IP cameras. For example, it seems possible to deduce the journeys based on the rate of vehicles entering or leaving the network and estimate how the traffic flow can be distributed over the network thereafter. Moreover, my invention might permit collecting short-term variations in traffic flow, anonymizing data, and gathering them in a convenient and coherent system. Moreover, my method can be adapted according to available resources and the desired data accuracy.   It could, for example, allow engineers and transport experts to model movements at any time of the day, night, week, month, or year and to study traffic phenomena by micro-simulation with a computer. A  microscopic simulator or traffic micro-simulator reproduces the individual movements of vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, or any other moving object on a computer screen. In addition, my method appears to provide an essential tool that can enhance Traffic Control Systems and Traffic Light Systems. It appears to be possible to know the traffic flow rate at any time of the day. Since traffic flow variation seems to be the essential ingredient for programming Traffic Light Systems adequately, my method appears to be able to dynamically modify traffic light sequences in real-time, using, for example, Webster's method. Another advantage of my invention is that it could permit transforming Static TLS to Adaptive TLS without implementing major changes to road infrastructure and IT systems. It also can avoid changing internal methods in force in cities, agencies, and public bodies. Furthermore, all these systems could be centralized and operated by a Traffic Management Center 34 as shown in Figure 1.