Traffic and Security Monitoring at the Lincoln Tunnel
The tunnel carries about 120,000 vehicles per day, making it one of the busiest tunnels in the world. It is comprised of three tubes, of two lanes each. The center tube is used for two-way operation, with traffic direction alternated to accommodate the morning and evening commutes. This flexibility provides three or four lanes in either direction as traffic flows require, thus easing traffic congestion during peak times.
The goal of the Port Authority is to provide safe and efficient transport for millions of travelers who use the Lincoln Tunnel each year and to this end it has invested substantial capital resources. One of the critical projects in this process is the enhancement of the Lincoln Tunnel's Traffic Management Center which monitors all of the approach ramps and roadways inside the tunnel to assure safety and security.
A key element of the Traffic Management Center upgrade project was a new display system that would monitor all tunnel cameras at one centralized facility. The plan was to enhance operators' situational awareness and ability to detect traffic problems, collisions, stalled vehicles, accidents, fires, chemical spills, suspicious activity, and other incidents. The overall objective was to significantly improve incident response time, minimize impact on traffic, and boost traffic flow.
The core of the Center's new display system is RGB Spectrum's 4View™ multi-image display processor. The Center uses twenty-two 4View processors throughout the facility. Each processor receives and combines four live video feeds from cameras covering approach roadways and lanes inside the tunnel. The images are then displayed on twenty-two Hitachi 42-inch HD plasma screens, providing operators with eighty-eight real time camera views of the tunnel complex.
The 4View processors display the live video images in four-image, quad mode on each plasma screen. Operators can also view any of the four video feeds full screen at the push of a button for more in-depth analysis. The multi-image display wall has become an invaluable monitoring tool, enabling operators to maintain comprehensive vigilance and improve safety and security.
Unlike traditional video quad processors that display each video signal at 25% of true resolution, the 4View displays all four video inputs at full resolution on a screen up to 1600 x 1200 pixels. The improvement in visual quality is dramatic. 4View's advanced artifact free motion rendering makes it the ideal solution for applications such as traffic management.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey manages and maintains the bridges, tunnels, bus terminals, airports, and seaport that are critical to the New York and New Jersey region's trade and transportation capabilities. For more information, call 212-435-7000 or visit www.panynj.gov.
RGB Spectrum is a leading designer and manufacturer of mission-critical, real-time audio-visual solutions for a civilian, government, and military client base. The company offers integrated hardware, software, and control systems to satisfy the most demanding requirements. Since 1987, RGB Spectrum has been dedicated to helping its customers achieve Better Decisions. Faster.™
