Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Road traffic sensor}}

:{{otheruses2other uses of|MIDAS}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}

{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}

'''Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling''', usually abbreviated to '''MIDAS''', is a UK distributed network of [[traffic]] and [[weather]] [[sensor]]s, mainly inductive loops (trialling at the moment radar technology by Wavetronix and magneto-resistive wireless sensors by Clearview Intelligence), which are designed to alert the local regional control centre (RCC) to [[traffic flow]] and average speeds, and set [[variable message signssign]]s and advisory speed limits with(or littlemandatory humanspeed intervention.limits On the M25 andon [[M42smart motorway]]s,) thewith MIDASlittle helpshuman setintervention. mandatoryCompanies variablesuch speedas limitRAC, signsTomTom asand partGoogle ofuse thethis ''controlledtraffic motorwayflow data via halogens reporting scheme''systems.

Originally installed on the congested western stretch of the [[M25 motorway]], much of the [[M60 motorway]] around [[Manchester]] and the Birmingham box (M6, M5 and M42), MIDAS has been installed on all but the most minor stretches of UK motorway. The system has successfully reduced accidents.<ref name="hacost">{{cite web|url=http://www.ha-research.co.uk/projects/index.php?id=437|title=Cost effectiveness of MIDAS|publisher=Highways Agency|accessdate=2007-01-07|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008103143/http://www.ha-research.co.uk/projects/index.php?id=437|archivedate=8 October 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Additionally, the system is installed on parts of the non-motorway trunk road network including the [[A14 road (England)|A14]].<ref name="A14">{{cite web |url=http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/22585.aspx |title=A14 Corridor Traffic Management Scheme |publisher=Highways Agency |accessdate=2011-07-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605103135/http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/22585.aspx |archivedate=5 June 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Although all stretches with MIDAS have at least small signals in the central reservation to show advisory speed limits for the whole carriageway, major motorways often also have text [[Variable-message sign|variable message signs]], and on the busiest stretches, lane control signals above each lane. Additionally, many motorways, called [[smart motorway]]s, have now been equipped with the newest signs and signals for variable mandatory speed limits and lane control.

It is presently ([[2006]]) installed on several sections of the United Kingdom's busiest motorways, such as the congested western stretch of the [[M25 motorway]] and much of the [[M60 motorway]] around [[Manchester]] and the system has successfully reduced accidents [http://www.ha-research.co.uk/projects/index.php?id=437].

The system replaced the ''Automatic Incident Detection '''(AID)''' system which was trialled in 1989 on an {{convert|83 |km|0}} section of the [[M1 motorway]].<ref name="hacost" /> MIDAS was first installedoperated on the M25 in 1997,the afterSouthWest thisquadrant before the section alreadywent hadlive thewith a variable speed limit (''controlled motorway'') scheme.

By March 2006, the [[National Highways Agency]] aimsaimed to have MIDAS installed on more than 910km{{convert|910|km|0}} of the English motorway network.{{specify|date=December 2011}}

==See also==

----

* [[Electronic Monitoring and Advisory System]] - a similar type of system in Singapore

* [[Freeway Traffic Management System]]

==External links==

Incident Detection algorithms have also been widely used throughout the '''COMPASS'''-enabled area of Southern Ontario, Canada. [http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/compass/ COMPASS] is the [[Freeway Traffic Management System]] (FTMS) run by the [http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/ Ontario Ministry of Transportation]. Detectors are typically located as double-loop detectors embedded in the pavement every 500m along the province's major expressways. COMPASS-enabled highways include [[Highway 401]] (one of the highest-volume highways in the world), as well as the [[Queen Elizabeth Way]] (or QEW), and [[Highway 417]] (the Queensway) in Ottawa.

*[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080926005822/www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/documents/b040206_v1.2.pdf Highways Agency: Variable Message Signs (VMS)] (PDF)

==References==

The primary algorithm used by the Ministry is known as the '''McMaster''' algorithm, designed by Professor Fred Hall of [[McMaster University]], in Hamilton, Ontario.

{{reflist}}

Research on new algorithm developments and evaluations is performed at the [http://www.civil.engineering.utoronto.ca/English/ITS.html ITS Centre and Testbed] (ICAT), at the Civil Engineering department of the [[University of Toronto]]. The ICAT is equipped with direct fibre-optic links to the Ministry of Transportation, and received both traffic camera and loop detector data on a live basis. Visual data can be used to confirm the presence of incidents detected by the various algorithms.

==External links==

*[http://www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/documents/b040206_v1.2.pdf Highways Agency: Variable Message Signs (VMS)] (PDF)

[[Category:CarAutomotive safety]]

[[Category:Traffic signals]]

[[Category:Road transport in England]]

[[Category:Traffic signs]]