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The port of Aalborg in Denmark is using sensor technology to improve traffic management, allowing people to know the location, speed and traffic conditions of vehicles in real time. In 2011, the port began to develop a solution with BLIP Systems to determine when the vehicle arrived at a specific location. The first phase of the project aims to record the traffic flow on the internal roads of the port by capturing the Bluetooth transmission of smartphones and other devices. In the future, the port plans to use more sensors to track traffic patterns on roads between different freight terminals.
The Port of Aalborg has been operating cargo transportation in North Jutland for 500 years. The port was built in 1476. Today, this 24-hour port mainly imports and exports bulk commodities such as cement, coal, feed, fertilizer, grain and oil cargo, and has a railway, warehouse and wharf.
Mette Schmidt, chief technical officer of Aalborg Port, said that freight transportation will cause traffic jams, and the port and the regional government are very concerned about this matter. Therefore, the port began to look for an automated solution to help alleviate traffic jams by reminding drivers of real-time road conditions, while also providing analytical data to help better traffic management.
Christian Bugislaus Carstens, marketing manager of BLIP Systems, said that in recent years, traffic jams in the port and the entire eastern region of the city have become more and more serious. Approximately 1,000 vehicles arrive at the port every day to deliver goods. These traffic loads not only affect the port, but also the surrounding area (about 10,000 vehicles per day). In 2020, a university hospital will be built in the area, which will bring 13,000 vehicles every day, which will also increase the traffic load. Schmidt said, therefore, it is very important to provide drivers with traffic route options.
The port needs a system to recognize the real-time movement of vehicles and transmit this information to other drivers so that they can choose alternate routes to reduce traffic jams.
The port tried to use traffic counters and temporary traffic counters for students. In addition, the port has also tried out camera systems. However, Schmidt said that these solutions do not meet the needs of the port: a system that can provide reminders to drivers and provide data analysis for future traffic planning.
The camera system can collect other identification information such as license plate numbers to distinguish vehicle information in a specific area. Camera systems can provide a large amount of data, but need to install cameras in multiple locations, so the price is relatively high. In addition, rain and snow can cause unclear pictures captured by the camera, and the company also needs to encrypt the license plate number to protect privacy.
In 2011, BLIP Systems installed 31 Bluetooth sensors along the internal roads of the port, the port and the road to the port to capture the Bluetooth transmission of the mobile phone or tablet on the vehicle. Carstens said the sensor has a maximum reading range of up to 300 meters.
The vehicle does not need to install additional applications, only need to enable Bluetooth. BLIP can collect the Bluetooth MAC address of the device. Then, the sensor encrypts this information and transmits it to the BLIP server. Using the data collected by all sensors, the solution can generate images of each vehicle’s travel time, dwell time and movement pattern.
This information can be used to generate a heat map to provide drivers with warnings of traffic jams or slowdowns.
Carstens explained: βThe information from this monitoring system can inform urban traffic engineers of traffic congestion problems, evaluate and calibrate traffic signals, provide the capacity of existing roads and detect changes in traffic patterns.β
In the future, the port will continue to expand the scope of use of this program and use it to analyze the traffic flow between different transportation hubs. The port hopes that these data will help predict traffic jams.
Schmidt said: “The current traffic problem is not serious, but when the university hospital is built, the traffic problem will worsen. Therefore, collecting traffic data for future predictions becomes a very important thing. This solution of BLIP Systems makes everything possible.”
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