The City of Zagreb, the capital of the Republic of Croatia, has some 800,000 residents and a bustling city center. With heavy traffic of vehicles and pedestrians, the city sought a solution for better traffic management, increased safety and more effective enforcement of traffic laws.
Challenge
The City of Zagreb, the capital of the Republic of Croatia, has some 800,000 residents and a bustling city center. With heavy traffic of vehicles and pedestrians, the city sought a solution for better traffic management, increased safety and more effective enforcement of traffic laws.
The City of Zagreb installed a city-wide surveillance system, which among other things, seeks to deal with the challenge of illegally parked vehicles on footpaths. Drivers who stop in unauthorized areas and on footpaths – even if for short periods – pose a safety hazard, and prevent the orderly flow of traffic and passage of people with special needs.
Solution
Systems integrator King ICT installed a surveillance system throughout the entire city which includes savVi, Agent Vi’s unified video analytics software, network cameras from Axis Communications and video management platform from Genetec.
Of the 225 cameras deployed at critical intersections and traffic points around Zagreb, 86 cameras have been enabled with savVi’s Real-Time Event Detection capabilities, and configured with the “Stopped Vehicle” rule.
The seamless integration of savVi with the Axis network cameras and Genetec Security Center, coupled with the integration with the municipality ERP system and national car registry database, provides the City of Zagreb with a best-of-breed solution that enables them to capitalize on their surveillance system investment, while increasing road safety
Result
When savVi detects that a vehicle is parked illegally or stopped in an unauthorized zone, an automatic alarm is sent in real-time to Zagreb’s supervising center through Genetec Security Center. The traffic supervisor then issues a misdemeanor warrant, or further escalates the offence. The immediate alarm generated by savVi allows the city to respond in real-time to any parking violation, including violations of short periods of time.
The installation of the video analytics, and subsequent detection of offending vehicles and issuing of monetary fines, has had the effect of discouraging drivers from parking illegally, and contributed to the city’s revenue from traffic fines.
Prior to the installation of savVi, the city relied on on-site traffic monitors to catch offending vehicles. However the automatic detections made by savVi, which eliminate the need for human monitoring, allow for more effective and immediate detection of illegally parked cars, and hence more parking tickets have been issued. Indeed, the City of Zagreb has tripled its revenue from traffic violations as a result of savVi’s introduction.
The deployment of the surveillance system – including savVi for real-time detection of stopped vehicles – has resulted in a reduction of traffic violations by more than 50 percent.
The deployment of the surveillance system – including savVi for real-time detection of stopped vehicles – has resulted in a reduction of traffic violations by more than 50 percent. Furthermore, drivers have started to change their habits and now park in public garages which is a more favorable and safer solution.
Stjepan Surmanovic, Senior Sales Manager at King ICT – a member of Agent Vi’s Channel Partner Program and a Certified Systems Integrator for Agent Vi solutions – commented that “The analytics setup went smoothly, and the system performs reliably. We selected Agent Vi’s video analytics because we could guarantee the product and the system’s quality to our customer. We, as the systems integrator, and the City of Zagreb, as the customer, are pleased with the end result.” He added that another advantage is Agent Vi’s open architecture, commenting that “savVi is fully compatible with Axis IP video network cameras and Genetec Security Center.”
Ariel Frischoff, VP Sales EMEA & APAC at Agent Vi, commented that“the comprehensive parking enforcement project in Zagreb shows the benefits of Agent Vi’s solutions which are suitable for large-scale, city-wide systems that require a robust analytics solution, while keeping capital and operational costs down. The customer reported a return on his investment within a few months, and is now considering expansion of the solution in light of the excellent results.”