Project: #318 Determining segment and network traffic volumes from video data obtained from transit buses in regular service: Developments and evaluation of approaches for ongoing use across urban networks Progress Report - Reporting Period Ending: Sept. 30, 2020 Principal Investigator: Mark McCord Status: Active Start Date: June 1, 2020 End Date: June 30, 2022 Research Type: Advanced Grant Type: Research Grant Program: FAST Act - Mobility National (2016 - 2022) Grant Cycle: Mobility21 - The Ohio State University Progress Report (Last Updated: Oct. 5, 2020, 6:25 a.m.) % Project Completed to Date: 15 % Grant Award Expended: 25 % Match Expended & Document: 5 USDOT Requirements Accomplishments Goals and Objectives • Refine approaches to determine traffic volumes and related network measures in urban areas from video sensors mounted on transit buses in operational service • Demonstrate performance of the method • Motivate practical use of the method and begin applications • Expand method to an approach for ongoing monitoring of traffic measures Accomplishments • Systematic numerical comparisons were made between pairs of hourly volume estimates obtained from combinations of “technology” (video imagery, road tube data, manually collected data) and year (2018 or 2019) for multiple roadway segment-directions and hours-of-day • Numerical comparisons were made between 15-minute traffic volume estimates obtained from video imagery and concurrent 15-minute volumes obtained from road tube data • An undergraduate student recently trained in vehicle digitization was further trained in image preparation and is now supervising five additional undergraduate students digitizing vehicles in images • Approximately 18 segment-hours of manually collected traffic volume were collected on 18 segment-directions; video data was requested for the time of manual data collection for eventual comparisons Training and professional development • Three graduate students and six undergraduate students were involved with video imagery data extraction; the three graduate students and one of the undergraduate students were involved with data processing • Three graduate students were involved with data processing and conceptual developments. One undergraduate student assumed supervisory and training roles for other undergraduate students. Dissemination • Investigators meet regularly with administrators from The Ohio State University’s Transportation and Traffic Management (TTM) to update them on empirical results obtained; TTM provides the video imagery upon request of the investigators as a result of these meetings Plans for upcoming period • Determine different alternatives to estimating traffic volumes from single bus passes and investigate performance • Investigate the performance of estimates obtained for different days during the same time-of-day periods • Develop volume estimates from newly obtained imagery • Continue interactions with OSU TTM Impacts • Regular meetings with The Ohio State University (OSU) Transportation and Traffic Management (TTM) office continue to generate interest in the empirical traffic flow estimates being produced and motivate ongoing collaboration in project research and outreach efforts • By extension, meetings with TTM and results in this project and others in which the project investigators develop unique data sets have led to two of the project investigators being invited to university discussions on data sources for university Carbon Footprint monitoring Other Physical collections: During the period, manually collected traffic counts were obtained for eventual comparisons with traffic volumes estimated from video imagery. Concurrent video imagery is being obtained. Curricula: During the period, the approach being refined and evaluated in this study was presented as a module in one Civil Engineering class offering consisting of 27 students. Outcomes New Partners We continued to work closely with Transportation and Traffic Management (TTM) at The Ohio State University (OSU). TTM oversees all OSU transportation operations, other than parking, and operates the Campus Area Bus Service (CABS), with a fleet of almost fifty 40-foot transit buses serving close to 5 million passengers per year on fixed route scheduled services. Issues None