Comparison and Evaluation of Roadside Animal Sensing and Driver Warning Systems (NDOT 399-20-803)

Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and partner agencies have been successful in building wildlife crossing structures and highway fences to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. However, for areas with limited NDOT right-of-way or requiring high accessibility, crossing structures and fences are not feasible. Roadside animal detection systems (RADS) are considered to detect animals nearby or on roads and warn motorists to reduce driver speed and increase attentiveness. This project will be a comparative study in real-world field conditions to compare the ability of multiple sensor types (LiDAR, Thermal, Camera/Video, Radar) for rapid detection and correct classification of animals in varied roadside environments. This project will also develop a deployable combination of one or more sensor types alongside roadways with varying conditions, to determine the most cost-effective stand-alone or combination of sensors. To evaluate performance of roadside animal sensing and driver-warning technologies, the project team will integrate the available area-coverage wildlife sensing technologies on the ITS trailer. Data output from each sensor will be processed, validated, and compared in terms of cost, power requirements, installation requirements, communication requirements, range, sensitivity, accuracy, and reliability in different weather conditions.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $299600
• Contract Numbers:

  P399-20-803

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Nevada Department of Transportation

  1263 South Stewart Street
  Carson City, NV  United States  89712

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Nevada DOT Research

  1263 South Stewart St
  Carson City, Nevada  United States  89712
• Project Managers:

  Simpson, Nova

  Koury, Lucy

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Nevada, Reno

  1664 N. Virginia Street
  Reno, Nevada  United States  89557

  University of California, Davis

  Department of Environmental Science and Policy
  One Shields Avenue
  Davis, CA  United States  95616

  Arizona Game and Fish Department

  5000 W. Carefree Highway
  Phoenix, AZ  United States  85086
• Principal Investigators:

  Xu, Hao

  Gagnon, Jeffrey

  Hazlehurst, Tim

  Shilling, Fraser

• Start Date: 20201116
• Expected Completion Date: 20231231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Transportation, Planning, Research, and Development
• Subprogram: Research

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Highways; Sensors; Warning systems; Wildlife
• Geographic Terms: Nevada
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01851106
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Nevada Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: P399-20-803
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 6 2022 7:05PM