How video analytics is making traffic and roads safer in these places

Video analytic companies have already deployed their solutions in several countries across the globe. With authorities increasingly becoming interested in concepts like smart and safe cities, the role of artificial intelligence-based video analytics for traffic management and road safety is only set to become more and more significant. Even the current COVID-19 pandemic situation has given rise to certain unique applications of video analytics in traffic and road safety management. 

Controlling movement during COVID-19 lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted citywide and countrywide lockdowns, many of which continue. However, enforcing lockdown, especially in the longer term, has been a challenge for many governments. Smaller countries may find it easier to monitor every street manually, but for larger countries, the use of analytic technology is necessary. 

"An interesting use of video analytics for vehicle control was seen in one of the Indian cities," said Ranjith Parakkal, CEO of Uncanny Vision. "To make the process of social distancing easier and to ensure that the chances of crowding were less, the city authorities wanted to limit the movement of private vehicles to a radius of 3kms or 5kms from their homes. To enforce this, they made use of automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) system, which would alert authorities when a vehicle breaches the 3km boundary."

Quick assistance on highways 

A pleasant drive on a highway could quickly turn into your worst nightmare if your car breaks down or if there is an accident. For authorities, providing quick assistance to issues on the highway is a priority, but for this, they need a system that would alert them automatically. Video analytics, which at its core is a system that detects anomalies in patterns, can recognize when something goes wrong. 

"We have deployed our solutions in toll highways to detect vehicles stopping to allow the highway authority to provide assistance and prevent safety incidents," said Istik Kattan, CEO of Agent Video Analytics. "The system detected in real-time any vehicle stopping on the road or its shoulders and triggers an alert to the authority's command center. We have also deployed in cities where the city authority wishes to detect vehicles parking in prohibited locations to issue fines."

Helping proactive action in traffic 

Briefcam's project on traffic management at municipalities along the Normandy coast of France is an example of how end-to-end traffic management using video analytics can increase overall efficiency. The company’s solution enabled authorities to quickly detect unusual behavior and make preemptive plans using footages of traffic violations and patterns. 

"For instance, the community has leveraged vehicle counting in certain areas and, by understanding how many cars appear in the area at different times of the day, month and year, the city can plan for expected increases in traffic and be alerted when an activity does not match recognized patterns," Stephanie Weagle, Chief Marketing Officer at Briefcam explained, citing a case study. "They also configure alerts to detect traffic violations, which would have otherwise gone unnoticed. This enables law enforcement to respond, if necessary, but also to pick up on trending violations and consider whether infrastructural changes can be made to prevent this misconduct." 

This intelligence could help the community add additional traffic lights, crosswalks, and more based on actionable insights about pedestrian and vehicular movements and trends.

Leveraging the power of multiple cameras

Authorities in many countries have been installing surveillance cameras for several years now, but their use is mostly for forensic purposes. In many instances, their use is inefficient as finding an incident requires rummaging through hours of footage. Video analytics promises to put an end to this, with its metadata-based search system. With so much footage being generated, the use of analytics is inevitable now.