Bicycle Detection and Operational Concept at Signalized Intersections Phase 2B: Testing a Bicyclist Detection System
Steven E Shladover, Ashkan Sharafsaleh, Allen Cheong, John Spring, Kai Leung · PATH research report · 2010
The performance of a commercially available microwave radar product for detecting bicyclists arriving at intersections and discriminating them from motor vehicles is tested. This capability is important for improving intersection control efficiency while serving the needs of bicyclists, so that the longer minimum green phases that bicyclists need to clear wide intersections are assigned only when bicyclists are present. The candidate bicyclist detector was first tested under controlled conditions to determine its ability to discriminate bicyclists from motor vehicles at a variety of distances and speed differences. It was then tested at a public intersection with randomly arriving bicyclists and motor vehicles and its detections were compared with a video recording of the actual conditions to determine the frequency of false positive and negative, as well as true positive, bicyclist detections. Motor vehicles misclassified as bicyclists represented an excess of 16% in bicyclist detections above the actual number of approaching bicyclists.