The objective of the new agreement is to continue to improve traffic safety in Austria and regulate traffic jam situations, in particular in critical areas such as construction zones or tunnels. Solutions include mobile and stationary TraffiSection systems by Jenoptik, for example in Vienna at the A22 “Kaisermühlen tunnel” location.
Jenoptik President & CEO Michael Mertin says, “We are pleased to announce our continued cooperation with ASFINAG. Thanks to our experience and technical competence, especially in the area of section speed control, in the future we can continue to work with ASFINAG to help improve traffic safety in Austria.”
Jenoptik developed the TraffiSection technology specifically for section speed control. It detects and evaluates the average speed of vehicles over a certain section of road.
Jenoptik has been a partner of ASFINAG for several projects in average speed control since 2009. While section speed control has already proved effective in Austria and Switzerland, Germany has been testing it since April 2014 with Jenoptik’s technical support, in a pilot project in Lower Saxony.
Coded data transmission
For section speed control, Jenoptik uses its laser scanner-based TraffiSection technology. Section speed control measures average speeds over an extended stretch of highway using measuring systems and cameras at the entry and exit points. Every vehicle is registered at each control point and is identified by its license plates. These data are then, after their registration at the entry point, immediately anonymized and encoded using a cryptological procedure in such a way that it is impossible to work out any details of the actual vehicle or any personal data at any time during the measurement. It is not possible either to recognize people in the vehicle as the vehicles are scanned in low resolution from the rear.
If a vehicle’s average speed over the section of highway exceeds the maximum permitted speed, a conventional high-resolution frontal photograph is taken with driver recognition when the vehicle exits the section of the highway. The system automatically records data such as the license plate and a photograph of the driver for use in prosecuting the violation.
By contrast, all data on vehicles that have not exceeded the speed limit will only be stored temporarily for the duration of the period they travel on this stretch of highway and automatically deleted completely after they leave the section of the highway. Due to the use of anonymization, encryption and automatic deletion, access to personal data is not possible.
Advantages of this technology
Average speed control using TraffiSection technology offers significant advantages for modern traffic monitoring. The speed limit can be monitored more effectively and cost-efficiently with the aim of achieving increased traffic safety as only one system is required for long stretches of highway and drivers keep to the prescribed speed limit on long sections of highway. This also harmonizes the traffic flow, thus preventing traffic jams from forming. Laser scanner-based Jenoptik technology also makes it possible to accurately identify drivers and document records of traffic offences that will be admissible in court.
Due to the modular structure of this concept, the TraffiSection system is suitable for both stationary, longer-term applications such as in tunnels, and for mobile, short-duration use, for examples at construction sites. Jenoptik also offers “multi-section” solutions for complex stretches of highway with intersections and turn-offs.