Section 4 ITS toward Standard Deployment

Incident Detection System

-Hanshin Expressway: Time required to provide accident information to trailing vehicles reduced from 8 minutes to 2 seconds
Accidents and disabled cars on city expressways are usually detected by patrol vehicles and reported by emergency phone calls. It takes about 8 minutes on the average to identify accidents from the time when they occur, and then information on accidents is provided to trailing vehicles.

In order to shorten the time, TV cameras were installed at Awaza curve, an irregularly-shaped section on the Hanshin Expressway, to process the image of disabled cars and vehicles involved in accidents and to automatically detect such vehicles. The system has succeeded in reducing to only two seconds the time required to provide information to trailing vehicles. Consequently, the ratio of secondary accidents, including rear-end collisions of trailing vehicles with vehicles involved in accidents, has been halved.

Incident Detection System (Hanshin Expressway)



-National Route 25: Prevention of secondary accidents like rear-end collisions by trailing vehicles
A section of the Meihan National Route (National Route 25) in Nara Prefecture has an irregularly-shaped curve called an omega curve which is troubled with many accidents and resulting congestion as well as secondary accidents, including collisions by trailing vehicles. In order to prevent secondary accidents, CCTV cameras have been installed on the roadside to detect accidents and subsequent congestion by processing the image of vehicles concerned. The control room operates information panels to provide information for trailing vehicles immediately.


CCTV cameras watch for unforeseen occurrences like accidents 24 hours a day.
Trailing vehicles which collide into vehicles involved in accidents or congestion is a frequent occurrence the omega curve on the Meihan National Route(National Route 25).
Unforeseen occurrences, such as accidents and congestion, are detected automatically and displayed on a control room monitor.
When accidents and congestion occur, information is provided quickly for trailing vehicles through information panels.



-Metropolitan Expressway: Swift handling of unforeseen occurrences in tunnels
The Metropolitan Expressway Public Corporation has installed a system at four tunnels in order to detect incidents there through image processing. The four tunnels are the Airport North Tunnel and the Tokyo Port Tunnel on the Tokyo Bay Shore Route, and the Chiyoda Tunnel and the Kasumigaseki Tunnel on the Inner Circular Route. When an image processing device detects incidents, the system provides warnings through a display device and makes available on-the-scene pictures taken by the cameras.

Screen displaying stopped vehicles
Screen displaying slow-moving vehicles
Screen displaying vehicles deviating from their lane to avoid an obstacle ahead




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