Xerox demonstrates effectiveness of vehicle passenger detection system

Xerox recently piloted its vehicle passenger detection system in Europe on the busy French-Swiss border, to demonstrate how an accurate automated system would enable transport authorities to operate high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and encourage commuters to adopt carpooling. The pilot, conducted in conjunction with the French Centre for Studies and Expertise on Risks, Environment, Mobility, and Urban and Country planning (Cerema) and the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing (
October 8, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
4186 Xerox recently piloted its vehicle passenger detection system in Europe on the busy French-Swiss border, to demonstrate how an accurate automated system would enable transport authorities to operate high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and encourage commuters to adopt carpooling.

The pilot, conducted in conjunction with the French Centre for Studies and Expertise on Risks, Environment, Mobility, and Urban and Country planning (Cerema) and the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing (DREAL), delivered highly satisfactory results, says Xerox. It demonstrated greater than 95 per cent accuracy in detecting the number of passengers in each vehicle and greater than 97 per cent accuracy in detecting that a vehicle had only a driver.

The pilot also found that, in the peak morning rush hours, 85 per cent of vehicles had no passengers; 12 per cent had one passenger and fewer than three per cent had two or more passengers.

The solution is based on patented computer vision techniques and geometric algorithms from Xerox research labs that distinguish between empty and occupied seats. The system complies with data protection law through non-reversible blurring techniques to prevent personal identification and photograph destruction after processing.

According to DREAL, the Xerox vehicle passenger detection system’s automated counting capability and high level of accuracy remove a significant barrier to the introduction of carpooling initiatives and HOV lanes, giving transport authorities a valuable tool to help them take action to reduce congestion.  Hervé Fagard, department head, DREAL Franche-Comté, said, “The pilot results give the authorities the necessary data to inform any initiative they may consider to reduce congestion.”

“The Jougne pilot has proved that the Xerox system, the most accurate automated device on the market, is now ready for us to launch it in Europe,” said Jean-Charles Caulier, sales director, International Public Sector, Xerox. “The system can be used on a large scale to avoid organisations having to manually monitor lanes reserved for carpooling.”
Classification & Data Collection

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Developing integrated transport networks
    September 20, 2012
    A major initiative in managing numerous transport networks as a single system has moved into a significant phase with design of sophisticated new ITS systems. Jon Masters reports. Detailed design work is under way on two pilot projects pursuing a common principle – that transportation can be made more efficient or effective if the various networks and modes of travel are managed as a whole system. This is the central tenet of the US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Integrated Corridor Management (ICM)
    Read More
  • ITS adaptions enhance cycle safety in Dublin
    December 3, 2013
    Enabled and enforced by innovative use of ITS, Dublin’s new off-road cycle route is proving a hit with commuters, leisure cyclists and walkers alike as Brendan O’Brien explains. Dublin City Council’s vision is to create a city where people of all ages and abilities have the confidence, incentive and facilities to cycle. On-road cycle lanes had already been incorporated into the Quality Bus Corridors design and there is a mix of on- and off-road cycle routes. However, in 2010 the Council began work on a new
    Read More
  • EarthSense sensors deployed on BBC Fighting for Air project
    January 15, 2018
    Birmingham's 'leave your car at home' project has significantly reduced nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) in the Kings Heath area, in an initiative led by residents, television producers and Dr. Xan van Tulleken who presented the pilot on the BBC's Fighting for Air program. The project used EarthSense's Zephyr air quality monitoring sensors to obtain the improved air quality results.The experiment urged residents to switch to public transport or walk for their daily commute while the sensors monitored air pollution
    Read More
  • Smartphone solution for parking performance
    March 31, 2017
    Automated parking offers optimised space utilisation and fewer damage complaints as David Crawford discovers. As cars become smarter, technology designed to make parking them more straightforward is developing in parallel. In turn, it is becoming clear that the places where vehicles spend much of their time will need to respond – more comprehensively than by supporting established aids such as smartphone-based parking location and reservation, or payment for time used.
    Read More

Highlighted Content