New techniques for data collection and integration for RTI/IVHS

Video surveys are being used in Doncaster to provide an up-to-date inventory of the highway network and street furniture. The techniques being used are closely related to those under development for the collection of network attribute data for Advanced Transport Telematics (ATT) / Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS) systems, in particular for route guidance and navigation systems. The success of systems such as Autoguide, EURO-SCOUT (formerly called ALI-SCOUT), CARIN, Travelpilot and dual-mode route guidance will be critically dependent upon the quality of the data on which navigation and routeing recommendations are based. Experience, in London and Berlin in particular, has shown that the information presented to the driver throughout his journey needs to be accurate, precisely timed and in a large number of cases specifically tailored to the details of individual junction layouts. It is not possible to provide the quality of data necessary for system acceptance without detailed surveys of the roads on which guidance is to be given. Video survey techniques offer the flexibility to view road and junction layouts in a controlled office environment, minimising the need for costly re-surveying, and significantly improving data quality and consistency. The system in use in Doncaster is providing the basis of an innovative methodology in which in-vehicle computers are interfaced with navigation systems and professional video techniques. This results in the integration of the digital map base with the information required to generate the vitally important turning recommendations for the driver and the accurate data necessary for successful map-matching. The paper presents results and conclusions from Doncaster. It reviews the need for this type of accurate data, describes experiences in existing trials of ATT/IVHS systems, analyses developments in digital map creation techniques and presents the context into which the new generation of data collection methodology will be integrated.