How to get the most out of video analytics in transportation

Find out how transportation organizations can use video analytics and decision management systems to boost operational efficiency and automation.

How video analytics and a decision management solution enhance your transportation operations

Every day, millions of people rely on transportation services. Whether it’s commuting to work on public transit, driving over to friends and family for a visit, or taking a dream trip to a faraway country, transportation is an essential part of our lives. More than that, it’s the backbone of the economy which connects organizations and consumers to products and services from all over the world.

As everyone becomes increasingly reliant on transportation, these organizations need new cutting-edge technologies to keep up. For example, transportation businesses aren’t only faced with protecting people and assets from points A to B. They also must ensure smooth, disruption-free journeys, and find ways to use data collected to streamline their processes, reduce costs, and enhance operational efficiencies.

Learn about how combining video analytics and a collaborative decision management system helps transportation organizations tackle these challenges head-on. These technological investments can also inform decisions that continuously improve aspects of your operations.

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Exploring the needs of various transportation organizations

In this digital era, transportation teams are looking for ways to shift from traditional analytics to more automated, digital practices. City traffic management teams, a public transit department, airport operations staff, or border control agencies all want better traffic predictions. Also, more visibility on the flow of vehicles or people, and better detection of delays and other issues that affect their operations.

For instance, city traffic management departments are interested in knowing about traffic flow violations such as illegal parking, vehicle speeding, and other major traffic infractions. They also want to know about roadway congestion and any patterns that come up due to poor infrastructure planning.

City traffic teams are also focused on reducing emissions by encouraging the use of other forms of transport, such as cycling. Getting more data about how cyclists are using bike lanes and whether blocked roads or recurring traffic violations impact those initiatives are critical.

Public transit agencies and airports are hyper-focused on customer service and passenger safety. They want to reduce wait times and ensure more people use their services because it’s a reliable, safe, and a pleasant experience overall.

Other transportation entities such as seaports and border control have their own challenges. From managing standard operating procedures and security to ensuring people and goods can efficiently move through their facilities, there’s a host of regulatory and operational considerations that weigh on them every day.

Your organization shouldn’t have to rely on paper-based manual processes, limited automation, and outdated traffic monitoring tools. There are more advanced technologies and tools that can help manage resources, ensure a smooth flow of vehicle or foot traffic, and make informed decisions. Implementing video analytics technology is a step in that direction.

Automating incident alarms

Using video analytics, transportation agencies can increase automation and detect potential incidents in less time. For instance, perimeter and area protection analytics will automatically detect potential hazards or intruders, that are near or within a restricted area. Security operators will be notified with an automatic alarm triggered by the system.

This automation shortens response times and enables security teams to respond faster. While the team is on their way, the system's automated responses such as PA announcements and alarm sirens can be activated to deter the intruders and stop them in their tracks.

Other video analytics such as object detection or stopped vehicle detection can alert the security team to any objects or vehicles that are left unattended. Direction control analytics can tell them when vehicles are traveling in the wrong direction to better enforce traffic regulations. When receiving these alerts, operators can then take action to address and resolve incidents so they don’t become bigger issues.

Should an actual incident occur, security teams can also use forensic search video analytics to help them quickly find people and vehicles using unique search characteristics. Allowing to search for things like a red van, or a person wearing a black hat. With powerful search capabilities, these analytics can help investigators mine through data to find the video evidence they need to build and close a case, faster.

Optimizing parking and traffic flow

In the transportation industry, video analytics is often used to monitor the flow of traffic and detect congestion. Traffic management teams can use this data to identify commuter patterns, optimize traffic routes, adjust traffic signals, or make other roadway improvements. This ultimately leads to less

roadway congestion, shortened travel times, and lower emissions.

Video analytics can also help city parking teams, airports, and mass transit agencies monitor parking areas and availability in real-time. Using analytics such as automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), these parking departments can gather data to better understand how their lots, garages, or street-side parking are being used. They can then use this data to build cases to expand parking capacities or make adjustments that streamline the entry and exit of parking facilities.

They can use these ALPR analytics to automate parking enforcement and ensure that only authorized vehicles enter certain areas. All of this helps them enhance parking services, reduce congestion in parking lots, and improve drivers’ overall parking experience.

Improving customer service

To keep passengers happy, mass transit agencies want to make sure their vehicles are arriving and departing on schedule. Using video analytics, transit agencies can track the departure and arrival times of all their vehicles. They can then work with the operations team to pinpoint the reasons for any lags and take corrective measures. They can also use the

information to inform passengers of any foreseen delays, and even bring more vehicles into service to accommodate demand.

Whether it's airports or train, bus, and subway stations, crowd estimation and people counting analytics can also help alleviate passenger congestion in terminals. For example, if crowds start gathering at the top of a train platform but onboard analytics show plenty of space near the tail of the incoming train, the agency can alert passengers as to which carts have the most room available so they can displace themselves as the train approaches.

Mass transit agencies can also use crowd estimation and people counting to avoid overcrowding on platforms following a big city event or sports game. For example, operators in the control room can receive an alert when the terminal has reached the maximum occupancy threshold. They can then close the station to minimize any accidents, fights, or public safety concerns. Individuals who use public transit will then naturally look for transportation alternatives, creating a less crowded space.

How do video analytics and a decision management system enhance transport operations?

The transportation industry is fast-paced and action-packed. While operators can use video analytics to collect more valuable information, they need other sophisticated tools to weed through the noise and point them to the most important situations. They’re also juggling many different situations at once, so flipping through binders to find standard operating procedures and enact response plans is nearly impossible.

This is where a decision management system such as Mission Control™ can help. Combined with video analytics, this system gives operators new levels of situational intelligence, visualization, and complete incident management capabilities.

So while your video analytics system is busy identifying various events, Mission Control collects and analyzes data from your security and operational systems. This is combined with the analytics data to qualify when situations require your operators’ attention. With these alerts, the system provides all necessary information from video cameras, analytics, and other data sources so they can see exactly what’s happening. At a click of a button, they’ll also be guided through response procedures so they can immediately address the situation according to your policies. This helps them go from response to resolution rapidly while ensuring compliance.

Here are a few more examples of how video analytics and a decision management system can support your transportation team:

• Enhance safety and security: Detecting and alerting security operators about potential safety hazards such as road collisions, speeding, road objects, and more by triggering automated alarms and response procedures for each situation.

• Improve traffic flow: Monitoring traffic patterns and providing real-time congestion data, enabling operators to make more effective decisions about routing and traffic optimization.

• Improve passenger experience: Tracking passenger flow and crowd count onboard vehicles and in terminals, alerting operators to corrective actions that can help alleviate delays and streamline the customer journey.

Some limitations of video analytics to consider

While video analytics can provide valuable insights and benefits for transportation, here are some common limitations that need to be considered:

1. Poor image quality: Video analytics rely heavily on the quality of the video footage. Factors such as low resolution or motion blur can significantly reduce the accuracy of the analytics. In the transportation industry, this can be a major issue since cameras are often placed in areas with high traffic where vehicles are moving at fast speeds.

2. Camera placement: Some cameras have a limited field of view due to how the camera is positioned. This can be a major limitation for transportation agencies since roadways, terminals, and other important infrastructure often include large, widespread areas that require expansive coverage. The correct placement of cameras is critical to capture the entire scene and not miss any event.

3. Privacy concerns: Video analytics can raise privacy concerns since they are monitoring and tracking the movement of vehicles and people. Remaining transparent, accountable, and respectful of individuals' privacy rights is essential. This includes developing clear policies and procedures around the use of cameras and analytics algorithms, choosing suppliers that prioritize Privacy by Design, and ensuring that data is always secured and only accessed by authorized personnel.

Taking the steps to digitize your operations

As more people move into cities and the global exchange of goods and services continues to spike, demands on the transportation industry will only increase. To ensure security and safety across operations and keep people and products moving, many transportation organizations will need to digitize processes to make better use of their data.

Implementing both video analytics in combination with a decision support system is a launchpad into our new data-driven world. Not only will these solutions provide higher levels of automation and help your operators work more efficiently, but this tech investment can be the catalyst to a fruitful digital transformation journey. One that benefits both the operational output of your business and the experience of your customers.