Glasgow City Council

Q-Free TDC worked in partnership with IMTECH for the commissioning of cycle priority systems using the innovative HI-TRAC CMU at separate signalised junctions across the City.
As government bodies look to reduce the numbers of vulnerable road users killed and seriously injured on our roads, whilst also challenged by wider legislation to reduce transport’s environmental footprint, there is an increasing recognition of the need to detect and protect vulnerable road users in multimodal traffic environments, presenting unique challenges and opportunities to ITS providers.

Using experience from a previous solution delivered in the Danish city of Copenhagen, Q-Free TDC provided a cycle priority solution at three traffic signalised junctions in Glasgow in Scotland. Specifically in Glasgow this replaced technologies that had failed to provide the solution the local authority required owing to poor accuracy of detection, resulting in complaints from both road users and cyclists alike.

TDC’s innovative HI-TRAC® CMU’s in-road piezo-electric sensors are installed approximately 25m (75ft) upstream from the signalised junction. Working in partnership with IMTECH the detection equipment has been installed inside the traffic controller cabinet and easily integrated in to the controllers phasing’s. As cyclists approach the signalised junction the detection at the in-road sensors additionally triggers an output that generates a “call” based on direction specific detection that provides a phase for cyclists to pass safely through the junction, thus completely removing the risk of vehicle / cycle conflict.
The system obviates the need to get involved in traffic signal programming and simplifies installation/integration. The customer further benefits from the count and classification information of all activity along the route which is of benefit to the authority’s cycle team.

‘As cyclists approach the signalised junction the detection at the in-road sensors additionally triggers an output that generates a “call” based on direction specific detection that provides a phase for cyclists to pass safely through the junction’
Key Features

Accurate Mixed Traffic Detection

Unique algorithms developed by TDC Systems measure the axle count, speed and wheelbase to distinguish true bicycles from other traffic such as children’s scooters, prams, trolleys, motorbikes and mopeds.

IP68 Sealed

The HI-TRAC® CMU unit is sealed to IP68. It can be fitted into a small pillar or housed in existing street furniture. TDC can configure the HI-TRAC® CMU to automatically transmit traffic data through GPRS to a web server for secure data storage to a database. GSM dial-up communication is also supported.