Motorway traffic jams are an increasing problem for drivers and traffic managers alike. The increase in the volume of traffic in the UK, especially during peak hours, is growing rapidly. This substantial increase means that the infrastructure, designed decades ago, often has trouble handling the flow of traffic even if the smallest incident occurs.

For the traffic management authorities responsible for the smooth running of traffic and incident management with appropriate response, this is a daunting challenge.  Navtech Radar have produced an application that provides a solution for these problems. Until now, technology for use in the highway has not been readily available due to a high level of challenges. However, the ClearWay radar application from Navtech Radar provides unrivalled detection rate and situation awareness that is unaffected by changing light conditions, fog or rain. The system can detect pedestrians, slow moving or stopped vehicles and debris such as exhausts, bumpers or spare wheels, as well as vehicles that are reversing.  This gives the capability of early detection, meaning that problems can be dealt with quickly by alerting approaching drivers and initiating remedial action, thus preventing the escalation into a major road incident.

ClearWay can be deployed for wide area detection across the entire width of motorway lanes. A single sensor can scan hundreds of meters of road surface both with and against the traffic flow to identify incidents on a lane by lane basis with high accuracy. Additionally single lanes or hard shoulders may be singled out, to alert operators to incidents whilst ignoring the normal traffic flow on adjacent lanes. As it is prohibitively expensive to widen existing motorway lanes, highway authorities are looking for ways to facilitate an extra lane by opening the hard shoulder during peak hours. ClearWay provides a solution for this by monitoring the lane; this ensures that any obstacles are highlighted prior to the opening for use.

The ClearWay radar solution provides effective 24/7 warning and early detection which provides more time for response. Furthermore, the long detection range provides lower installation costs in terms of sensor numbers, to the benefit of the entire infrastructure.

More Information on ClearWay