Helsinki Journey Time Monitoring System

At the end of September 1998, Golden River Traffic were awarded a contract by the Finnish National Roads Administration (Finnra) to provide an Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR) based Journey Time Monitoring System (JTMS). The main purpose of this pilot system was to ascertain the suitability of ANPR technology under Finnish traffic and weather conditions. This paper describes the equipment, its installation, the system evaluation and future expansion options. Journey times are measured by reading the registration marks of vehicles, using cameras installed on pedestrian and vehicle overbridges above the monitored carriageway, at approximately 5 to 7 m height. Readings of the same registration mark at different monitoring points are then matched, from which transit times are calculated for each link