Skip to main content

GTT aids cyclist safety in Minneapolis

In a bid to improve conditions for cyclists in Minneapolis, Global Traffic Technologies (GTT) using existing infrastructure and its Canoga 9004 system to detect and react to bikes at intersections. The traffic detection system is now able to recognise both vehicle and bicycles and the Canoga card reacts quickly enough to give cyclists a green light without needing to slow down or wait at the intersection or navigate a red light. Previously, only vehicles would trigger green traffic signals at intersectio
July 14, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
In a bid to improve conditions for cyclists in Minneapolis, 542 Global Traffic Technologies (GTT) using existing infrastructure and its Canoga 9004 system to detect and react to bikes at intersections. The traffic detection system is now able to recognise both vehicle and bicycles and the Canoga card reacts quickly enough to give cyclists a green light without needing to slow down or wait at the intersection or navigate a red light.

Previously, only vehicles would trigger green traffic signals at intersections, which meant that a cyclist halt at an intersection undetected, waiting for a car to approach to activate the signal.

Where possible, the city wanted to implement bicycle detection at key signalised intersections, without investing in expensive detection technologies and leveraging the existing infrastructure, avoiding cutting new loops or mounting new pole-based detection technologies.

Using the existing advanced detector loops and the Canoga 9004 traffic sensing technology in the traffic cabinet, the traffic department was able to detect and classify bicycles with enough time to trigger the intersection green lights before the cyclist has arrived. This information is also calculated, recorded and stored for subsequent data retrieval through an Ethernet-enabled connection.
UTC

Related Content

  • September 3, 2014
    Minnesota DOT deploys GTT’s Canoga to curb intersection vehicle crashes
    Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is working toward making the state’s roads safer, using the Canoga traffic sensing solution from Global Traffic Technologies (GTT) to warn at-risk drivers when cross-traffic is approaching. Nearly 70 per cent of fatal vehicle collisions in Minnesota, as well as other states, occur on roads in rural communities, where higher speeds, varying terrain and inconsistent sightlines can put many drivers in danger. The MnDOT initiative is part of the nationwide Towards
  • January 27, 2012
    Integrate systems to reduce roadside infrastructure
    David Crawford reviews promising current developments. Instrumentation of the road infrastructure has grown to become one of the most dynamic sectors of the ITS industry. Drivers for its deployment include global concerns over the commercial and environmental pressures of traffic congestion, the importance of keeping drivers informed throughout their journeys, and the need to reduce accident rates and promote the safety of all road users, for example by enforcing traffic safety rules.
  • March 19, 2014
    New opportunities in a data-rich future
    Jason Barnes looks at where the detection and monitoring sector is heading. In the future, there will be no such thing as an un-instrumented road. Just a short time ago, that could have been a quote from a high-level policy document but with the first arrivals of vehicles with 802.11p connectivity – the door-opener to Vehicle-to-X (V2X) applications – it’s a statement which has increasing validity. The technology which uses our roads will also provide information on road conditions but V2X isn’t the only
  • June 30, 2016
    Machine vision’s transport offerings move on apace
    Colin Sowman considers some of the latest advances in camera technology and transport-related vision technology applications. Vision technology in the transportation sector is moving apace as technical developments on both the hardware and software sides combine to make cameras more multifunctional with a single digital camera now able to cover a multitude of tasks.