Driving smart mobility

A range of innovative roadside solutions is helping communities and authorities to reduce emissions, improve road safety and enhance efficiency

Words | Stefanie Stäglin, Jenoptik, Germany

Jenoptik is a global leader in road safety, smart mobility, and civil security, and provides innovative solutions to make mobility safer and easier. For road safety, Jenoptik provides state-of-theart photo enforcement technology to positively impact driver behaviour and enhance road safety. This includes speed and red-light cameras, as well as many other enforcement applications.

Jenoptik technology also helps roadway operators to manage traffic flow, emissions, congestion, and tolls. Special expertise relates to automatic number plate recognition (ANPR). These systems capture, analyze, and help to act against public safety threats such as serious organized crime and border control violations using real-time predictive data analysis. As cities become smarter and mobility becomes more autonomous and connected, Jenoptik contributes to make future mobility smarter, safer, greener, and more efficient.

All applications are supported by a powerful back office that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the multitude of data collected in real time and reports hazard alerts, rule violations and other anomalies. Jenoptik also provides extensive services that cover the entire process chain including operation, automated data processing and analysis.

With global experience based on more than 30,000 delivered systems worldwide, in-house engineering and design along with local know-how supported by a strong partner network in more than 80 countries, Jenoptik helps to make the roads, journeys, and communities safer.

Getting closer to vision zero

Equipment and systems that improve road safety are important. But these alone are not enough. Today, traffic cameras must fit into modern infrastructures, contribute to sustainability, and offer flexible options for a wide range of technical applications. One example is Jenoptik’s new TraffiPole. This has an award-winning modern design, is sustainable, quick to set up and offers many options for integrating the latest traffic monitoring technologies. TraffiPole is a new housing system that enables more sustainability and emission reduction.

The TraffiPole climate housing has been developed to meet both high design and sustainability requirements. It fits well into a modern cityscape and enables both cost-effective operation and energy-efficient cooling of the installed electronic components without the need for air conditioning. The upper oval segment houses the non-invasive measuring system with camera and sensor to enable accurate speed measurement across multiple lanes, red light detection with lane indication and offender vehicle marking in the violation images, as well as vehicle classification in approaching and departing traffic. Other functionalities such as ANPR and additional sensors for emissions measurement are available as options with the Vector camera.

TraffiPole’s highly functional double-wall design enables efficient air circulation, eliminating the need for air conditioning even in very hot climates. This special design helps to significantly reduce power consumption and thus reduces CO2 emissions of up to 1.74 tons per year. In addition, TraffiPole is made entirely of recyclable aluminum and the design elements on the outside can be exchanged for solar panels to support self-sufficient operation.

With its new TraffiPole housing, Jenoptik has convinced the German Design Council’s jury. TraffiPole was awarded a Special Mention in the Excellent Product Design/Public

Above: Vector ANPR average speed camera

47%

The reduction in NO2 levels in some areas of Wales attributed to Jenoptik average speed cameras

Design category for its innovative and functional design at the internationally renowned German Design Award 2022 and received a Special Mention at the ABC Design Award in the Mobility and Innovation product category.

Thus, Jenoptik complements its range of housings and adds a second design-award winning housing for traffic monitoring systems to TraffiTower, honored with the iF Design Award in 2014.

Using AI for civil security

Jenoptik provides state-of-the-art ANPR cameras that can be used for a multitude of road safety as well as civil security applications such as combating organized crime and terrorism, securing borders, monitoring suspect vehicles, or protecting public places. These AI-enhanced ANPR cameras monitor vehicles and evaluate data in real time, securely and accurately. The AI enhanced real-time analysis software turns up the accuracy of the technology, arming authorities with the most accurate number plate read possible – even if the plate is dirty, from a different jurisdiction or obscured.

The plate data captured is evaluated in real time, using the powerful TraffiData analysis software. This compares the plate to local and national hotlists, alerting the responsible authorities within seconds if there is a match. TraffiData also makes it easier to identify patterns and potential threats, using tools such as convoy analysis and geographical zones. User specific filters can be setup and run, allowing a highly flexible, proactive approach.

Where other ANPR systems stop, Jenoptik’s DL engine makes its ANPR even more powerful. The DL engine enables the system to discern the make, model, and colour of cars and to distinguish individual characters on number plates. It can learn new plates and expand its database to include updated and unfamiliar designs. Such updates, keeping the reading algorithm accurate and up to date, are produced in the lab under carefully controlled conditions. In the end, this is leading to a significantly higher number plate read rate.

Above: New sustainable and design-award winning climate housing for the TraffiPole

Clean air solutions

Throughout Europe, many regions are currently failing to meet the EU’s air quality targets. Governments are therefore coming under increasing pressure to meet European air quality limits and new ways to reduce emissions are essential. Jenoptik’s Clean Air solutions help communities and governments effectively reduce emissions in a variety of ways. These solutions provide traffic managers with a valuable and highly cost-effective tool to reduce air pollution.

One example are average speed cameras that are common across the UK, with more than 200 Jenoptik SPECS systems in operation. But their locations are usually chosen at sites with a high number of serious collisions. However, in Wales, four new schemes have been installed at areas where speeds were primarily reduced to lower emissions and to enable a smoother traffic flow.

The result has been stunning: since 50mph speed limits were introduced in 2018 and enforced from 2019, nitrogen dioxide levels in those areas have fallen by up to 47%, helping to protect people from serious illness as well as playing a part in tackling the climate emergency.

Road user charging

Jenoptik also offers road user charging solutions and experience from one of the largest toll projects in the world. For these applications, the division developed innovative monitoring pillars that combine various digital sensor technologies such as stereo image processing and axle number detection in a single system.

With innovation as the driving force, Jenoptik is a global leader and reliable partner with intelligent solutions that are constantly evolving and helping to make roads and communities safer, reduce congestion and emissions, and meet the challenges of future smart mobility. ■