Challenge Monitoring Truck Traffic at the Port of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, to Improve Traffic Fluidity - SMATS Traffic Solutions
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Project Summary
Customer
Port of Trois-Rivières
Monitoring Truck Traffic at the Port
Partners
of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, to Transport Canada
Improve Traffic Fluidity ISED Canada
Industry
Challenge Port
Nowadays ships are carrying much The Port of Trois-Rivières in Quebec,
more cargo and ports invest in more Canada, offers a wide range of
cargo terminal capacity, which
Challenge
facilities and services to the marine
makes ports busier than ever. An -Reducing wait times for
related logistics industry. With an
increased amount of freight arriving trucks, reducing port gate-
approximate surface storage area of
simultaneously in ports causes more times and turn-times,
457,000 m2, the Port of Trois-
port traffic, which leads to longer Rivières holds several specialized
reducing GHG emissions,
wait times for trucks, ultimately terminals that can accommodate dry and gaining actionable
leading to increased port gate-times KPIs
bulk and general cargo, both indoors
and turn-times and often increasing
and outdoors, as well as liquid bulk.
port-city traffic congestion and
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
The truck traffic within the Port Solution
consists of numerous truck routes -SMATS TrafficXHub™ WiFi
These issues compel port authorities
stemming from two entrances, & Bluetooth sensor with
to search for new ways to manage
traffic congestion near and within
where trucks pass through scales to Bluetooth beacon cards
the ports. weigh bulk products and then -iNode™ data analytics
A truck traffic monitoring system for proceed to product storage locations. web platform
ports can provide valuable decision The Port’s current truck activity data
ready data regarding truck traffic is based on information derived from
movements. The tracking data can the two entree gates and punctual Results
truck traffic reports; hence, more in- -Sensors can track trucks
provide useful information and Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) that port traffic behaviour information is and measure travel times,
can be used to manage truck needed to better manage truck idle times, and movement
movement efficiently and reduce traffic in support of plans for port patterns, giving the Port
congestion at a port. expansion. greater visibility and
performance measures
SMATS Traffic Solutions Inc., May 6, 2021, 7 Bayview Rd., Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1Y 2C5
Tel: (613)417-0309, Fax: (613) 701-4142, email: info@smats.ca, website: www.smatstraffic.com
Solution: SMATS' Figure 1: Illustration of SMATS truck traffic monitoring technology
Traffic
Monitoring
Truck+Beacon TrafficXHub Sensor Cloud iNode
Technology
The high-level objectives of this project are: Sensor Installation
To provide decision-making tools (KPIs) to gain
When deploying the sensors, the SMATS team
more precise knowledge of traffic flow and
checked the area to find the best locations for
improve overall port efficiency;
available mounting infrastructure and power
To reduce truck transit time and GHG within the
sources. Based on the deployment locations, some
Port boundaries and optimize the use of existing
sensors were powered by solar panels, and the others
assets;
were connected to the available AC power.
To improve traffic safety using real-time truck
locations.
To achieve the project objectives SMATS' vehicle TrafficXHub
detection technology was deployed. The solution is sensors
used to monitor truck traffic and provide key
installed at
performance measures, including truck queue times
at different routes, pick up and drop off idle-times,
gates and
and movement patterns for real-time decision product
making and historical analysis. locations
The technology includes the installation of SMATS
TrafficXHub sensors at strategic locations at the Port.
These sensors capture Bluetooth Low Energy signals
emitted from low-cost Bluetooth beacons allocated
and distributed to the trucks visiting the port. SMATS
data analytics cloud application, iNode, was used to
process the sensor's raw data, including beacon's
MAC addresses and signal strengths in real-time.
Figure 1 illustrates different components of the
SMATS technology used in this project.
Bluetooth Beacon Cards The Bluetooth
The Bluetooth beacon cards used in this project were Low Energy
distributed to the trucks. These cards can be attached to beacon card
the existing RFID access cards or can be placed in the
used to track
trucks. The card uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
technology which are low-cost and provide multi-year
truck locations
battery life.
SMATS Traffic Solutions Inc., May 6, 2021, 7 Bayview Rd., Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1Y 2C5
Tel: (613)417-0309, Fax: (613) 701-4142, email: info@smats.ca, website: www.smatstraffic.com
Results Real-time traffic data for configured links
Advanced algorithms were used to locate the trucks
at the Port and measure queue times between two
sensors (a.k.a links travel time), queues between
multiple sensors (a.k.a. route travel time), and idle
times at the sensor location for goods pick up and
drop off. In addition, an origin-destination analysis
tool was built to track the movement patterns of
Movement data from a single truck and the Idle-
trucks inside the Port, from the Port gates, to the
Time (wait-time) and Travel Time traffic KPIs
scales, offices, product storage site, and exits. The
SMATS hardware and software solution provided
greater visibility to the Port's truck activities and
various performance measures for operational and
long-term planning and decision-making.
This information is expected to support the Port's
strategic (optimizing asset acquisition), tactical
(optimizing use of existing assets), and operational Who is The Port of Trois-
(optimizing real-time activities) decisions to
improve the performance of the Port and terminal Rivières?
services. iNode origin-destination analysis tools
can reveal the truck movements in the Port and As one of 17 Canadian Port Authorities, and active
provide new valuable KPIs to decision-makers. since 1882, the Port of Trois-Rivières is a crucial
player in regional, national and international
In summary: economic development for major industrial sectors
The sensors demonstrated reliable performance such as the aluminum industry, forestry, and agri-
throughout the year food. Strategically located halfway between
The Beacon cards were captured in the travel Montreal and Quebec City, the Port of Trois-
route by the sensors Rivières welcomes 55,000 trucks, 11,000 railcars,
iNode measures the travel time and wait-times and more than 250 merchant and cruise ships
with 92% accuracy annually, originating from over 100 different ports
iNode shows traffic patterns and routes taken in more than 40 countries around the world. It
by trucks handles over 3.3 million metric tons of goods, has an
iNode provides real-time locations of the trucks annual economic impact of nearly $2.9 billion, and
within the Port supports more than 2000 direct, indirect, and
induced jobs.
SMATS Traffic Solutions Inc., May 6, 2021, 7 Bayview Rd., Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1Y 2C5
Tel: (613)417-0309, Fax: (613) 701-4142, email: info@smats.ca, website: www.smatstraffic.com
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