Eindhoven First To Install BikeScout Light Safety System
Smart City Improves Bicycle Safety With LED Lighting
A pilot has been initiated near the Meerenakkerweg-Kasteellaan roundabout to further improve cyclist traffic safety. Under contract to the Municipality of Eindhoven, the BikeScout innovation developed by Heijmans will be commissioned at the bicycle crossing. BikeScout is a detection system that warns drivers at crossings about approaching cyclists. Eindhoven is the first Dutch city to install the BikeScout system. The innovative character of the pilot is perfectly consistent with the development of Eindhoven as a Smart City.
Alderman Jannie Visscher of the Municipality of Eindhoven had this to say about the pilot: ‘Together with a focus group comprising local residents, the police force and the Cycling Association (Fietserbond), we reviewed additional measures to enhance traffic safety in the recent past. The installation of rubber speed bumps in May of last year has already made a significant contribution to this. With the Heijmans BikeScout we want to further improve the situation for cyclists.’
Flashing LED Lights
‘Cyclists are not always easily visible and their speed is difficult to estimate. This sometimes takes drivers by surprise,’ says Heijmans’s Bart Coppelmans. ‘We have developed a system that, on the basis of cycling speed and distance calculates, a cyclist’s time of arrival at an intersection and warns drivers on time using flashing LED lights embedded in the road deck.’
Evaluation
Two mobile cameras have been temporarily installed to measure the effect of BikeScout. They will monitor the traffic situation at the roundabout for a period of six weeks. After this an evaluation will be conducted together with the focus group on the basis of the video images and the experience of local residents.
by Julie Allen
30 Jun