Hikvision, a supplier of video surveillance products and solutions, is ensuring safe vehicle flow and helping to improve driving standards in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar (formally Burma), via an intelligent wide-area integrated traffic management solution installed across the entire city.
Major traffic congestion
Spurred on as a result of international economic sanctions on Myanmar being eased in 2011, a rapid build-up of tens of thousands of vehicles were estimated to have moved on to the city’s roads and in the years since, Yangon, whose population is over 7 million, has experienced worsening major traffic congestion.
The new phenomena of heavy traffic congestion on Yangon's roads resulted in regular vehicle gridlock on the five main roads running east to west in the downtown city area, and at peak times, pedestrians often moved faster than motor vehicles! What should have taken just 15-minutes to drive from the downtown area to Yangon International Airport, just 16 kilometres away, was often taking as long as 90 minutes.
In 2007, there were approximately 180,000 vehicles on the city's streets. By 2014 that number had almost doubled - according to the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC).
Vehicle collisions and road deaths
As a result of the combination of major traffic jams, severe congestion and poor driving standards, the city experienced 2,100 vehicle collisions and 475 road deaths in 2012. However, in 2013, these figures rose by 6.5 percent, with nearly 3,000 vehicle collisions and 506 related fatalities.
The YCDC also found that the vastly intensified traffic flow had led to increased traffic rule violations, such as jumping red lights and illegal U-turns, with the effect of further increasing congestion and placing the public and vehicle passengers at greater risk of accidents. To address these issues, YCDC decided action should be taken and issued a tender inviting companies to provide an effective technology-based solution to address the severe traffic problems.
Based on their vast experience in the design and installation of many large-scale electronic traffic surveillance and control systems deployed within hundreds of cities across China, the winning bid by China Railway 21st Bureau Company Ltd, recommended a total Hikvision based traffic management solution.
In 2012 Yangon experienced 2,100 vehicle collisions and 475 road deaths due to traffic jams, severe congestion and poor driving standards |
Acting on the DICTCS (Design, Installation, Commissioning of Traffic Control System) project as a technical consultant, Hikvision worked closely with both China Railway 21st Bureau Company Ltd and YCDC to detail a traffic control solution that would guarantee the system’s performance capability, seamless operation and future-proof expansion.
Field-proven technology
To control the huge city-wide traffic system, Hikvision supplied their field-proven ITS (intelligent Video Management System), designed as an integrated image-processing application platform specifically for traffic management applications.
This platform integrates vehicle checkpoints, violation detections, video surveillance, illegal parking detection, intersection control, and data integration in to one single management system. The scope of operation for the Hikvision traffic control solution also included a Complete Road Violations Detection System with illegal parking detection.
Central to the traffic management system employed at 154 traffic light-controlled junctions, is the Hikvision ITS Comprehensive Control Platform. Located in a purpose-built facility, it consists of data servers servicing Management, Database, streaming, storage, Traffic Event and Traffic Devices – all protected by a secure dedicated firewall.
Traffic Signal Controller technology
Ensuring better traffic flow, located at the edges of the system at points across the city, Traffic Signal Controller technology is used to enforce multiple traffic rules. First, the checkpoint system provides key data on traffic flow and violations. When a vehicle in violation passes an ITS-equipped checkpoint, the system then captures a photo and automatically links significant data, including ANPR (license number plate recognition) and speed value to the evidential image.
Vehicle speed can be captured by radar or by segmenting road sections. In this case, high-accuracy radar featuring continuous capture reliably records speeding vehicles, while a double-checkpoint segmentation system provides superior performance, compared to a single-checkpoint set-up alone.
Furthermore, smooth traffic flow is ensured by the Running Red Light Detection System that utilises Hikvision camera technology, working in conjunction with Traffic Light Signal detection, to provide evidential video of traffic light violations. A traffic video unit captures three images of a vehicle crossing an intersection against a red light and produces evidential data relating to the time & date, location and vehicle licence plate number. The three images and a close-up are combined into a single picture to produce evidence for violation notification and prosecution.
Violation detection
Within the subsystem, Hikvision cameras are employed in the city to monitor parking via the Illegal Parking Detection System. Traffic speed dome cameras are used to capture three images of any vehicle illegally parked, and then record the data of when and where the vehicle was, its vehicle registration plate and the specific parking rule contravened.
In addition to the system being able to manage common driving violations such as intersection abuse, wrong-way driving, direction deviations, prohibited lane changes, crossing lanes, traffic counting, and reverse driving detection, it also keeps a watchful eye on the quality of the city’s traffic flow, monitoring it 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Hikvision's traffic control system reports traffic flow and displays it on giant roadside Traffic Guidance Display monitors |
To help relieve traffic congestion hot spots and supply road users with current traffic status, the traffic control system reports traffic flow and displays it on giant roadside Traffic Guidance Display monitors. The data captured by the system includes vehicle counting, average speed, length of queue, type of vehicle, place and time, distance between two adjacent vehicles, interval between two adjacent vehicles, and the level of traffic jam (3 types - Clear, Slowed, or Jammed).
Data drives better behaviour and traffic flow
All data is recorded and supplied to the control room in real-time. This invaluable data allows the traffic management team to adjust the timing of traffic lights to reduce bottle-necks, improve traffic flow and ensure the best road-user travel experience possible through Yangon. Citywide road network camera surveillance is displayed in the control room on a 40 x 47” Hikvision HD LCD video monitor wall.
Since the system was commissioned, traffic violations have been recorded and vehicle drivers automatically issued with a warning letter. This process is educating residents and visitors to become accustomed and aware of the new system’s operation, with an aim to improve their driving behaviour- before financial prosecutions are brought in to force. Once the initial probation period is over, in the future, the system will be structured to issue prosecution letters and automatic fines to offenders.
Supporting economic and industrial growth
“Implementing Hikvision’s Design, Installation and Commissioning of the comprehensive Traffic Control System in Yangon Myanmar with Hikvision’s integrated subsystem, enables us to have access to live traffic information and the detection of red-light violations,” explains Than Win, Vice Chief Secretary of Yangon City Development Committee. “Hikvision’s subsystem illustrates the success that can be achieved to control non-compliance with traffic laws.''
“Yangon is the first international city outside of China to use the Hikvision DICTCS Traffic Management Solution, joining hundreds of similar successful systems installed in cities across China,” confirmed Tony Xu, Hikvision Project Manager. “Thanks to the innovative total Hikvision solution, the technology now in place is set to ensure that Yangon’s vastly improved traffic flow will provide support to YCDC’s development objective, to support and sustain the city’s economic and industrial growth.”
