Incident Detection with Probe Vehicles: Performance, Infrastructure Requirements, and Feasibility

Abstract In this paper we develop an incident detection algorithm based on information received in real-time from probe vehicles. We present a model which allows us to estimate the upper bound detection rate for a given density of probe vehicles. We demonstrate our algorithm on data collected from the 1-880 freeway in Hayward, California. We conclude that a probe vehicle-based algorithm is feasible, and it avoids some of the infrastructure problems facing loop-based algorithms.