State of Practice for Automated Traffic Incident Detection

Traffic Management Center (TMC) operators need to be alerted of roadway incidents (e.g., crashes, stalled vehicles, slowed or stopped traffic) in a timely manner to initiate response efforts and manage the resulting traffic implications. Commercially available products can provide automated incident detection (AID) functionality with alerts to TMC operators. This project researched the state of practice for commercially available AID systems. The project focused on products and tools that detect multiple types of common roadway incidents (e.g., crashes, stalled vehicles, debris, slow or stopped traffic) and provide alerts to TMC operators. The project objectives were to understand the various AID capabilities offered and to define common user needs for TMC operator use of AID systems. To accomplish the objectives, the project identified 42 common TMC operator user needs for AID that were used to guide seven vendor demonstrations of AID products to document their capabilities. Two transportation agencies also demonstrated platforms developed in-house to assist in AID. Finally, a peer exchange webinar featured seven transportation agencies highlighting their experiences with AID products. The AID systems reviewed for this project vary in detection capabilities, detection coverage, and detection environments. In addition, all products or agency platforms are configurable, provide alerts to TMC operators and can be integrated with an agency’s ATMS. The product capabilities documented and the TMC operator common user needs for AID can be used and modified by ENTERPRISE members to identify their agency’s specific needs for deploying AID systems.