Passive Detection Technology for Bikes, Pedestrians and Motorists

Co-PI: Yao-Jan Wu, Ph.D., P.E.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has shown that the traffic related incident and fatality crisis has only continued to grow in recent years. Per their most recent annual report, overall crashes have increased by over 22% in the last year, and fatalities by over 11%. Traffic incident fatalities are currently the number one cause of death for people 54 and younger in the United States.

To better position Phoenix, Arizona as a global competitor on the smart cities stage, the City has proposed upgrades to the existing HAWK beacon technology to augment active detection with passive. This innovative detection strategy has demonstrated the ability to improve safety and provides equitable access to mobility, and better overall integration of traffic systems. Additionally, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, pedestrians have become more reluctant to activate push-button systems to request crossing calls. In addition to bypassing this dangerous trend, proper passive detection provides the opportunity to reallocate unused time from other signal phases.

The City of Phoenix has proposed deployment of two passive detection technologies (NoTraffic and Iteris) that will be deployed at 10 high intensity actuated crosswalks (HAWK) signals (referred to as Component 1) and 20 signalized intersections (referred to as Component 2), respectively. Both systems will detect pedestrians and bicycles that will activate the HAWK signals and the NoTraffic system will improve signal timing in the deployment corridor. The University of Arizona, in partnership with Iteris, will support the City of Phoenix in the management of the project, deployment and data collection of the passive detection technologies, assessment of the performance and safety improvements; adhering to the City’s Data Management and Evaluation Plans that were submitted to USDOT’s SMART Grant Program.