Traffic counters: What Other Info Do They Track?, page 1

posted on Oct, 14 2009 @ 12:42 AM

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Just curious if anyone has explored this. Do traffic counters do more than count traffic?

Are they fiber optics?

Do they interact to read information embedded in the holograms in car tags?

Do they scan your vehicle to read RFID that you may be carrying?

Very often when I have seen road cords, I see law enforcement sitting off the side of the road within a quarter mile. Are they reading information that is being transmitted?

Chadwickus

posted on Oct, 14 2009 @ 12:55 AM

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Why don't you go have a look at one?

All you'll find is a box on the side of the road, usually padlocked to a sign post or tree.

Inside the box is just a counter mechanism, sometimes with the counter display on the outside of the box.

I'd hazard a guess that they're air controlled, certainly not optic fibres as they would be crushed with traffic going over them all the time.

cappuccino

posted on Oct, 14 2009 @ 01:49 AM

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Here in Holland (Rotterdam to be precise) we have camera's on all major and minor roads, one for each lane if there are multiple. At first they were only at entry and exit ramps of the highways and major roads leading out of the cuty, but now they ara almost everywhere. In essence they are used for measuring traffic and see how the flow is, but there are so much camera's now that in theory it is possible to track the movement of invidual cars and also who was in there.

'They' say it will not be used for those purposes but it would very much surprise me if it is indeed the case that it is also used for tracking criminals or for intelligence/secret service purposes. They would be stupid not to.

It's just another sigh of the increasing grip governments are trying to get on the population. George Orwell, come on in!

Alethea

posted on Oct, 14 2009 @ 01:53 AM

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Originally posted by cappuccino
Here in Holland (Rotterdam to be precise) we have camera's on all major and minor roads, one for each lane if there are multiple.

We have cameras also. But what I am referring to is a couple of black cords that are laid on the roadway. Are they used in Holland as well?

cappuccino

posted on Oct, 14 2009 @ 02:01 AM

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Originally posted by Alethea

Originally posted by cappuccino
Here in Holland (Rotterdam to be precise) we have camera's on all major and minor roads, one for each lane if there are multiple.

We have cameras also. But what I am referring to is a couple of black cords that are laid on the roadway. Are they used in Holland as well?

Yep. In Rotterdam they are replaced by the cams. Smaller city's and villages who don't have the money for a system like that use the cords. They are used for counting the number of vehicles and calculating the speed at which a vehicle passes. As Chadwickus say, they work on compressed air. I would not worry much about them if I were you. It's the camera's that pose real threat to your privacy.

[edit on 14-10-2009 by cappuccino]

Blanca Rose

posted on Oct, 14 2009 @ 07:31 AM

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When a road is in need of repair, or needs to be widened to accomodate for traffic, those are used to count traffic.

They are needed to prove a cause for funds to be used to make adjustments to the road, using tax dollars.

You should be happy they are looking for a justification for spending tax dollars, rather than repairing roads that have little traffic on them.

Not everything needs to be a conspiracy!

Voxel

posted on Oct, 14 2009 @ 07:49 AM

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The black things you run over is just standard 1/2" rubber tubing filled with air. The air pulse when your tires run over the tube triggers a count. Actually, every two air pulses trigger one count.

The old boxes simply record the number of cars. A worker from an engineering firm contracted by the town/state/fed would go out during specific times to record the number.

Newer sensors record each car with a time-tag so you can bring the data into a computer and do more in-depth reasoning.

They use the different counts at different times to statistically determine the amount of traffic at the morning rush, lunch rush, and evening rush. This information is used for scheduling and to set traffic rerouting and detour requirements. In the case of intersections, the data collected is used to determine what type of traffic signals to install and their relative durations.

Jon

burdman30ott6

posted on Oct, 14 2009 @ 11:26 AM

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The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

8 or 9 years ago, when I was doing my Civil Engineer In Training "paying my dues" tasks, traffic counting was one of my least favorite activities. Nothing more fun than standing on a busy intersection on a 115 degree day in downtown Pheonix with a little clicker box trying to keep up with rush hour traffic.

Believe me, those leave in place air tube counters are a God send for EITs and young PEs in smaller offices with traffic count contracts!

Your observation of seeing an LEO parked near the counter is almost certainly a result of shared circumstances. Counters are generally placed either directly upstream or directly downstream of a predicted significant change in traffic. This includes a major intersection, ramp, lane change, or even a major egress/ingress to a high volume use site (shopping center, sports facillity, school, etc) These are also places where LEOs often stop to monitor traffic and insure drivers are following the law. Both are often seen there for the same reason... higher volumes of traffic. You want to base your traffic counts off of the highest observed peak volume because that will ultimately dictate what type of roadway structural section you design, how many lanes, what turning movements need to be accounted for in signalization design, etc. We use traffic counts a lot in our roadway design process.

As Freud said "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.