Performance and Challenges in Utilizing Non-Intrusive Sensors for Traffic Data Collection

Abstract

Extensive field tests of non-intrusive sensors for traffic volume, speed and classification detection were conducted under a variety of traffic composition and road width conditions. The accuracy challenges of utilizing non-intrusive sensors for traffic data collection were studied. Both fixed and portable sensors with infrared, microwave and image recognition technologies were tested. Most sensors obtained accurate or fairly accurate measurements of volume and speed, but vehicle classification counts were problematic even when classes were reduced to 3 to 5 compared to FHWA’s 13-class standard scheme.