Traffic simulation models offer significant benefits, but after 35 years of development and application, they still have shortcomings. A new study seeks to fill in the gaps.
"The objective of NGSIM is to develop behavioral algorithms in support of microscopic traffic simulation, with supporting documentation and validation data sets. All NGSIM products will be freely available to simulation model developers and the transportation community at large.
...Vehicle detection is accomplished by extracting line segments from images and matching them to 3-D vehicle models. "This algorithm shows superior vehicle localization performance in varying illumination conditions compared to the previous motion-based approaches," he added.
Once a vehicle is detected, it can be tracked based on its appearance in the camera image. A sequence of cameras is used to track the detected vehicles along a stretch of freeway. Vehicles in the overlapping area between two cameras are passed from one camera to the next by comparing their appearance in both cameras."
FULL STORY: Next Generation Freeway Simulation

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.

The Tiny, Adorable $7,000 Car Turning Japan Onto EVs
The single seat Mibot charges from a regular plug as quickly as an iPad, and is about half the price of an average EV.

Trump Approves Futuristic Automated Texas-Mexico Cargo Corridor
The project could remove tens of thousands of commercial trucks from roadways.

Austin's First Single Stair Apartment Building is Officially Underway
Eliminating the requirement for two staircases in multi-story residential buildings lets developers use smaller lots and more flexible designs to create denser housing.

Atlanta Bus System Redesign Will Nearly Triple Access
MARTA's Next Gen Bus Network will retool over 100 bus routes, expand frequent service.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
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Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)