German traffic monitoring and enforcement systems developer Jenoptik has received an order from the City of Cologne to supply its semi-stationary speed monitoring devices to increase urban traffic safety in all of the city’s districts.
The order from the Cologne authorities was place last month and includes 10 of the company’s easily-transportable semi-stationary speed monitoring units that are equipped with Jenoptik’s TraffiStar S350 laser scanner. The City of Cologne initially tested the semi-stationary trailers over a period of six months in 2016. They will now be deployed in various hazardous areas around the city, such as those adjacent to kindergartens, schools, hospitals and retirement homes. A total of around 1,300 possible speed measuring points were identified in Cologne, with an emphasis made on areas where there are particularly high numbers of vulnerable road users. As is already common in many other German cities, the ten trailers have already received names from the local authorities, some of them with a local reference, among them ‘Hänneschen’, ‘Kättche’ and ‘Pitter’.
The semi-stationary trailer is based on a model that Jenoptik’s Light & Safety division originally introduced to the Swiss market several years ago. The system was further developed for use in Germany and has been equipped with the company’s TraffiStar S350 laser scanner. The laser measuring system can monitor the speed of multiple vehicles and lanes simultaneously and can differentiate between cars, trucks and motorcycles. This feature enables operators to monitor the particular speed limits that have been set for different vehicle classes and lanes. For flexible operation, users can set alternative speed limits for several time windows per day, such as school opening hours. The system also offers ‘blocking times’ in which it stores statistical data but does not take photos.
Due to its simple operating and setup concept, speed measuring can be started without lengthy deployment times. The system is operated with an outdoor tablet PC via a WLAN interface. The operating program is extremely simple and clear and has many additional features such as a data archive, statistics and other facilities. The speed violations are captured by high-resolution SmartCameras and are documented with measurement results in full, and stored in encrypted form for violation evidence. The cameras can be linked together with Jenoptik’s TraffiNet central monitoring software and/or data can be automatically processed by the company’s TraffiDesk back-office traffic offence evaluation software.
Housed in a robust semi-stationary container, the TraffiStar S350 measurement technology can be used independently of external power supply due to accumulator batteries for about a week at construction sites, accident black spots or traffic-calmed locations. Both directions of travel are monitored simultaneously, day and night. Easily towed to deployment locations, the trailer unit is equipped with both front and rear cameras to detect speeding offences by motorcycles. The armor-plated container has a GPS transmitter to locate the trailer unit and is fitted with sensors to report attempts at vandalism.
