Traffic flow analysis

This chapter discusses traffic flow analysis in the context of technologies for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) from three important perspectives. First, we look at traffic flow from a transport engineering perspective so as to set the context in terms of the application domain. Second, we consider how flow could be observed using computer vision means and provide an overall review of relevant current research in the field. Third, we illustrate how a practical computer vision system can measure some of the variables required by traffic engineers. Last, we highlight some of the challenges posed by traffic monitoring especially in developing countries, where the density of traffic is growing at a faster rate.