California State University, Sacramento is Eliminating Near Misses at a Dangerous Cross Walk and Enhancing Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- VIMOC Technologies, a leader in Vision-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions at the edge of the network, has deployed their popular Crosswalk Safety solution at Sacramento State (California State University, Sacramento) to increase pedestrian and bicycle safety. VIMOC's Rosella™ Platform has helped the University reduce near misses involving pedestrian and bicycles at a campus crosswalk historically challenged by nighttime lighting conditions and speeding drivers.

Each year in the US, pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities comprise about 16 percent of all traffic fatalities with approximately 5,000 pedestrian deaths and 800 bicyclist deaths. Another 65,000 pedestrians and 48,000 bicyclists are injured in roadway crashes annually. The advent of intelligent, vision-based platforms that inform the infrastructure about the presence and status of vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists will be one of the core foundations of traffic safety in the future. Public acceptance of automated and autonomous vehicles on a large scale basis will not happen until pedestrian and bicycle safety issues are adequately addressed.

Sacramento State has been at the forefront of providing safe paths to pedestrians and bicycles. As a large campus with a daily population of 35,000 people, pedestrian and bicycle safety is critical to the day-to-day transportation management in the campus. "The Hornet crosswalk has been an area of concern for pedestrians and bicycles with several near misses reported," said Tony Lucas, Senior Director of Sacramento State's Transportation and Parking Services. "Identifying the right technology solution to increase safety was critical for us."

In partnership with VIMOC Technologies, Sacramento State has implemented a real-time, highly accurate AI-enabled Crosswalk Safety solution with traffic signage and lighting provided by xWalk. VIMOC's Crosswalk Safety solution detects and classifies pedestrian and/or bicycles approaching the crosswalk, automatically triggering flashing lights (from xWalk) on a traffic sign and pavement warning vehicles to slow down or stop. Additionally, the system is constantly sending data to the VIMOC cloud, enabling University transportation operators to visually analyze crosswalk usage, pedestrian and bicycle numbers and traffic patterns to better understand their environment.

"VIMOC's Artificial Intelligence enabled crosswalk safety solution helped us eliminate near misses and created a safer crosswalk and dynamic situation awareness for drivers," said Tony Lucas.

"Working with Sacramento State has given us the opportunity to demonstrate and validate a new and effective approach for pedestrian and bicycle safety," said Tarik Hammadou, CEO of VIMOC. "We are working to enable the future of intelligent transportation in which vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians can safely coexist."

VIMOC will continue to work with Sacramento State by providing its AI-based solutions in pursuit of a Smart Campus environment.

SOURCE VIMOC Technologies inc