Freeway Traffic Data from Time-Lapse Film

This paper describes an economical method for obtaining speeds, flows and densities from low quality time-lapse film that is unsuitable for the more common data reduction techniques, most of which require vehicle tracking. The method is developed from some very basic ideas and is illustrated in a description of a recent application—a study involving 16-mm time lapse film coverage of a 1400 m long freeway segment in Toronto, Canada. Average speeds were comparable to those obtained by tracking individual vehicles.