The transportation industry is critical to maintaining a functioning society, from carrying goods across the country to bringing commuters to their jobs. Data-driven technology enables public and private transportation providers to analyze operations and continuously improve to provide effective services for all those who use them.
Video analytics is a technology that uses specialized algorithms to analyze video footage and generate descriptions of video metadata. These functions enable security professionals and transportation managers to identify and monitor important elements within the field of view (FoV) so they can determine the appropriate actions to take.
The increasing implementation of video analytics in the transportation industry is a promising method for improving public and private transit moving forward. Read on to learn more about this technology and how it can serve transportation companies.
How the Transportation Industry Utilizes Video Analytics
Video is one of the richest sources of data available. Combined with the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and other hardware, video data provides powerful insights for increasing safety and improving the customer experience. Here are some examples of common uses of video analytics in the transportation industry.
- Traffic monitoring and management: In the transportation industry, video analytics is commonly used for traffic optimization, where it monitors traffic flow and detects incidents such as congestion and crashes. The data from traffic monitoring is crucial for management teams. They can use it to establish commuter patterns, modify signals and improve traffic efficiency.
- Public transit optimization: Besides its role in monitoring, public transport data analytics can be a crucial tool in streamlining transportation by tracking passenger volumes. A combination of state-of-the-art hardware and software helps transit agencies monitor platforms for crowding, which assists in route optimization and improved scheduling.
- Journey analytics: The data collected can help improve the travel experience for passengers and decision-making for operators. The focus on the passenger journey experience begins with access to real-time insights into dwell times, movement and congestion points. With this information, operators can take timely measures to enhance passenger journeys.
- Toll and ticketing analytics: Revenue collection is key to ensuring profitability and sustainability in the transportation sector. With many providers using cashless systems for toll payments, opportunities arise for inconsistencies in fare collection. Proper use of transportation analytics can help track payment and ticketing processes, which makes detecting fare evasion and other violations affecting revenue collection easier. With the rich source of data, providers can manage inefficiencies by adjusting staffing at tolling points.
- Passenger needs: Major transit terminals like airports, train stations and busy bus stations monetize passenger movement by providing facilities that cater to passenger needs. The adoption of video analytics offers a deeper understanding of passenger movement, providing insight into popular facilities and the days or times passengers typically engage with certain services. With this information, stakeholders can better meet customer needs and also increase revenue.
- Passenger safety: One of the main applications of video analytics in the transportation industry is safety. The technology enables transport providers to take proactive measures to improve passenger safety by detecting and responding to incidents on time. Operators can control everyday issues that impact safety, such as jostling, theft, vandalism or altercations.
- Security investigation: Developments in transportation data analytics have become critical in analyzing security threats and accelerating security investigations. For example, government security agencies are implementing cutting-edge video forensics to analyze public threats like an unattended package and respond accordingly. The use of video analytics software also assists in data aggregation, improving investigation times.
- Infrastructure monitoring: Video data analytics comes in handy in maintaining public transport infrastructure. The use of capable AI-enabled solutions allows the processing of real-time footage from cameras on roads, tunnels and bridges, making it easy to identify issues like hazards. With effective infrastructure monitoring, transport companies can speed up maintenance and emergency responses.
Environments Where the Transportation Industry Needs Video Analytics
Video analytics has many positive impacts on transportation. Here are some examples of areas in the transportation sector where video analytics currently finds popular usage and how the technology is improving their operations.
Dashcams
Dashcam systems are excellent technologies for improving vehicle safety and enabling continuous improvement in transportation systems. Some benefits of adding video analytics capabilities to dashcams include:
- Accident prevention: Analytics-equipped dashcams can detect people or objects on the road and alert drivers, helping them to avoid collisions.
- Streamlined insurance claims: Insurance rates can double or even triple when accidents happen. A dashcam with video analytics and incident reporting capabilities can help drivers and companies prove they weren’t at fault, making it easier to keep insurance rates low.
- Passenger safety: Monitoring passenger behavior during journeys is just as important as tracking driver behavior. Video analytics-equipped cameras combined with motion-sensing devices throughout the vehicle can capture risky behavior from passengers and alert the driver to the situation.
Airport Terminals
Operational efficiency and security are typically the top concerns in airports. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), aviation security risks come in different forms and can change rapidly. Crowd control and effective monitoring are important for securing airports and providing excellent passenger service. Video analytics is a useful solution because it provides real-time visibility into situations as they arise. Some of the primary benefits of implementing video analytics in airport terminals can include:
- Improving security: Video analytics provide security teams with real-time situational awareness, improving their ability to quickly determine the best course of action and respond accordingly to the situation. Additionally, by documenting data from previous incidents, security teams can analyze residual risk and prevent similar situations from arising in the future.
- Reducing queues: Video analytics can track the number of passengers moving through an area, which can help airport managers determine how best to streamline bottleneck-prone areas such as security checks and terminal gates.
- Developing business: Knowing how passengers tend to navigate terminals can help inform tenancy sales and pricing for retail vendors and restaurants within the terminal. This data is also useful for vendors, as knowing peak hours can help them maximize their business.
- Optimizing airport maintenance: Tracking occupancy through video analytics helps identify peak hours for specific areas within a terminal. This information allows airport staff to schedule maintenance and cleaning based on known traffic trends.
Incorporating video analytics makes it easier for airlines and airports to create a smooth experience for both passengers and operation managers.
Bus and Train Stations
Safety is an increasing concern both in transport hubs and on board buses and trains. To address these growing concerns, city officials are increasingly implementing video security technologies throughout transport systems.
In 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the city would equip all of its subway trains with two cameras in each car to deter crime and rebuild the public’s trust in the system’s safety. This move can significantly increase the authorities’ reach within the Metro and improve passengers’ sense of security.
Adding video analytics to these cameras further enables law enforcement officials to protect citizens by:
- Improving efficiency for travelers.
- Creating a holistic view of a situation.
- Tracking and analyzing security trends over time.
Implementing video analytics systems helps officials monitor crowd traffic at the stations, which provides important information to decrease the length of wait times for public transit.
Parking Management
Parking facility usage has varied recently as a result of evolving public health restrictions. Many parking facilities are now looking to move away from analog systems and embrace digital alternatives.
Video analytics technologies can help parking facilities create a streamlined parking experience by:
- Automated billing: Video analytics software can recognize specific license plate numbers and determine the length of each customer’s stay. Cameras can send that data to the integrated online payment system to automatically bill customers.
- Hazard detection: Cameras combined with IoT sensors throughout the structure can detect environmental hazards such as ice, smoke and fire. Software integrations enable systems to respond by triggering automatic alerts to local emergency responders. This kind of system empowers fast issue resolution and minimizes facility damage.
- Traffic flow: Cameras equipped with video analytics can analyze peak-hour parking queues to identify patterns and trends. Additionally, this software can recognize when specific areas are empty or full, allowing easier navigation for customers.
Container Tracking
Losing important cargo can cause devastating losses for logistics and shipping providers. Cloud-based video analytics software equipped with container tracking capabilities can improve protection for goods by making sure cargo is always where it should be.
Many advanced analytics technologies can count the number of objects moving through an area at any given moment. Here are some examples of video analytics use cases for container tracking:
- Isolating specific objects: Video analytics software can filter out extraneous background elements and focus on specific containers. This capability can help track container movement and uncover where missing cargo may have gone.
- ISO code recognition: Advanced analytics programs can recognize container ISO codes. Operators can prevent container misplacement by setting which codes they want to watch for. They can then receive automated notifications if containers move into the wrong area.
- Object counting: Video analytics software can monitor the number of people or containers entering and exiting specific areas to gain insight into typical port traffic.
Trucking Fleets
Video analytics software is beneficial for truck drivers and fleet owners. Installing an analytics-equipped dashcam in a truck can help companies improve their bottom line, keep their drivers safe and help identify the most optimal route planning.
For one thing, video analytics can help truck companies identify the causes of accidents, reduce false insurance claims and save companies money.
Blind spot detection is another major benefit. Integrating high-resolution cameras with a VMS system and blind spot detection system creates a network that picks up motion or activity the driver cannot see, which can prevent accidents.
Further, video analytics can help trucking companies improve driver training by analyzing incidents to identify common trends. The training can then address these trends to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.
Road Traffic Management
Automated video analytics software can provide insights into traffic flow on roads by detecting, counting and classifying vehicles as they enter the FoV. By training the analytics algorithm to watch for abnormal driver behavior and improve pedestrian safety, officials can detect and respond to road incidents in real time.
Video analytics can also monitor intersections to collect data on accidents. This data can help teams develop proactive solutions to prevent crashes rather than responding to crashes only after they occur. For example, if many near misses happen because pedestrians are crossing the road when they shouldn’t, the authorities can take steps to ensure roads are safer for all users.
Implementing this technology would require traffic staff to become familiar with using the technology rather than closely monitoring traffic themselves.
Station Traffic Flow
Managing traffic flow within transit hubs can help prevent overcrowding and other safety concerns. Improving traffic flow helps passengers reach their destinations on time, delivering a good experience.
By tracking across cameras within the system, officials can monitor and quickly respond to passenger and traffic flow changes throughout the building. They can also use video analytics systems to create intelligent visualizations of traffic data, such as heatmaps and charts, which they can access through user-friendly dashboards.
These visualizations provide officials with helpful information they can use to improve traffic flow, such as:
- Peak hours for passenger traffic.
- Bottleneck-prone areas within the station.
- Which routes are the most and least popular.
- Improve traffic flow for emergency vehicles.
With this information, managers can adjust staffing and route schedules to match demand and create increased business value.
BCD and NVIDIA Solutions
BCD has partnered with NVIDIA, a pioneer in AI and accelerated computing, to enable GPU-powered video analytics solutions. Governments, enterprises and integration partners searching for world-class AI-driven solutions leverage NVIDIA as a practical and cost-effective approach to addressing key operational and safety challenges.
BCD’s testing and validation process ensures solutions from various independent software vendors (ISVs) work with our systems. Whether it takes one day or one month, we thoroughly vet each application using the following tests:
- Benchmarks: We test each application in normal function to provide a standard we can test against in other trials.
- Test to fail: We introduce a high-stress condition to test how far the application can function before total failure. This helps us determine the total capacity of the application.
- Compatibility: We make sure all video analytics software works seamlessly with BCD appliances by using the NVIDIA framework.
Contact our team today to get started.
