Improving TxDOT's Incident Detection Algorithm

According to the Texas Transportation Institute's (TTI) recent Urban Mobility Report, incidents like the one shown in Figure 1 are responsible for nearly 60 percent of the total delay experienced by motorist in all urban areas. In Texas, freeway management systems are utilized in many major urban areas including Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth, Dallas, Austin, El Paso, and soon Laredo. Freeway management systems are planned for other major metropolitan areas in Texas such as Amarillo and Corpus Christi. An important goal of these systems is the rapid detection of incidents and the management of traffic during incident conditions. The faster an incident is detected, the more rapid the response, which decreases congestion on the roadways.