One really exciting and enjoyable aspect of Transportation Engineering is the constant influx of new technologies. For our projects, we are continually examining how to improve our data, our analyses, and ultimately, our recommendations to make the world a safer place.
Looking through last Sunday’s ads, drones had a prominent spot for at least one store. Several versions were available from under $200 to $2,000 or more. Most included video cameras to provide great photos and/or videos. Since we currently use ground-mounted video cameras, getting a drone would seem like the next step.
About ten years ago, we sat on the side of Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis after the Light Rail Transit line was opened adjacent to it in Minneapolis, and counted the number of people in each car as they passed by as well as the number of bicyclists/pedestrians on the adjacent. Metro Transit had data on how many riders were on the light rail trains and used this data combined with the information...
Last week I shared the first part of a presentation I gave at an ITE Western District Conference. I released the first half of my presentation last and this is the second article in this two part series.
Since 2001, my businesses, Spack Consulting and Traffic Data Inc., have provided data collection and analysis throughout the Midwest. As portable video camera systems to collect traffic volume data has become mainstream in the last five years, my colleagues and I are not only collecting more hours of traditional turning movement counts for a lot less money, we’re also using this new technology to...
