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IET TRANSPORTATION SERIES 18

Collection and Delivery

of Traffic and Travel
Information
Other volumes in this series:

Volume 1 Clean Mobility and Intelligent Transport Systems M. Fiorini and J.-C. Lin
(Editors)
Volume 2 Energy Systems for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles K.T. Chau (Editor)
Volume 5 Sliding Mode Control of Vehicle Dynamics A. Ferrara (Editor)
Volume 6 Low Carbon Mobility for Future Cities: Principles and applications H. Dia
(Editor)
Volume 7 Evaluation of Intelligent Road Transportation Systems: Methods and
results M. Lu (Editor)
Volume 8 Road Pricing: Technologies, economics and acceptability J. Walker (Editor)
Volume 9 Autonomous Decentralized Systems and their Applications in Transport
and Infrastructure K. Mori (Editor)
Volume 11 Navigation and Control of Autonomous Marine Vehicles S. Sharma and
B. Subudhi (Editors)
Volume 12 EMC and Functional Safety of Automotive Electronics K. Borgeest
Volume 16 ICT for Electric Vehicle Integration with the Smart Grid N. Kishor and
J. Fraile-Ardanuy (Editors)
Volume 17 Smart Sensing for Traffic Monitoring N. Ozaki (Editor)
Volume 25 Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems: Towards high-level
automated driving M. Lu (Editor)
Volume 38 The Electric Car M.H. Westbrook
Volume 45 Propulsion Systems for Hybrid Vehicles J. Miller
Volume 79 Vehicle-to-Grid: Linking electric vehicles to the smart grid J. Lu and
J. Hossain (Editors)
Driver Adaptation to Information and Assistance Systems Alan Stevens,
Corinne Brusque, Josef Krems (Editors)
Collection and Delivery
of Traffic and Travel
Information
Edited by
Paul Burton and Alan Stevens

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

Published by The Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, United Kingdom
The Institution of Engineering and Technology is registered as a Charity in England &
Wales (no. 211014) and Scotland (no. SC038698).
† The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2021
First published 2020

This publication is copyright under the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright
Convention. All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research
or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in
the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued
by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those
terms should be sent to the publisher at the undermentioned address:

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

Michael Faraday House
Six Hills Way, Stevenage
Herts, SG1 2AY, United Kingdom
www.theiet.org

While the authors and publisher believe that the information and guidance given in this
work are correct, all parties must rely upon their own skill and judgement when making
use of them. Neither the authors nor publisher assumes any liability to anyone for any
loss or damage caused by any error or omission in the work, whether such an error or
omission is the result of negligence or any other cause. Any and all such liability is
disclaimed.
The moral rights of the authors to be identified as authors of this work have been
asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this product is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-78561-772-0 (hardback)

ISBN 978-1-78561-773-7 (PDF)

Typeset in India by MPS Limited

Printed in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon
 Contents

About the editors xv

Biographies xvii
Foreword xxiii
Glossary of acronyms and technical terms xxv

Introduction 1

1 Road traffic data collection 5

Paul Burton and Neil Hoose
1.1 Introduction 5
1.2 Background and context 5
1.2.1 Collection of data for use in real time 6
1.2.2 Collection of historical data for analysis 6
1.3 Traffic reports 6
1.3.1 Motoring organisations’ patrols 6
1.3.2 Police and emergency centre reports 7
1.3.3 Radio audience (‘jam busters’) 7
1.4 Closed circuit television (CCTV) 8
1.4.1 Visual monitoring 8
1.4.2 Image-processing to form incident alerts 8
1.5 Road surface monitoring/counting 9
1.5.1 Census vs. real time 9
1.5.2 Rubber tube traffic counters 9
1.5.3 Inductive loops 10
1.5.4 Piezoelectric and fibre-optic 12
1.5.5 Magnetometers 12
1.5.6 RADAR 12
1.5.7 LiDAR 15
1.5.8 Validation of traffic data from loop sites 15
1.5.9 Data from existing control systems 19
1.6 Number plate-based systems 20
1.7 Data collection using mobile devices 21
1.7.1 Floating car data 21
1.7.2 Bluetooth/Wi-Fi travel time data 23
1.7.3 Mobile network data 24
vi Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

1.8 Outlook 25
References 26

2 Road traffic news from the air 27

Paul Hutton
2.1 Early traffic information gathering 27
2.2 US influence 29
2.3 Emergence of the ‘Flying Eye’ in the UK 29
2.4 The reality of traffic news from the air 30
2.5 Identifying the benefits of traffic news from the air 31
2.6 Amalgamation of flying services 32
2.7 Further challenges to the flying traffic services 33
2.8 Anecdotes from flying operations 35
2.9 Conclusions 36

3 Location referencing 37
Jon Harrod Booth
3.1 Introduction 37
3.2 Historic context 37
3.3 Location referencing terms and concepts 38
3.4 Basic concepts of location referencing 39
3.5 Location by coordinates 41
3.6 Pre-coded location referencing 42
3.6.1 RDS-TMC ALERT-C location referencing 42
3.7 Dynamic location referencing 44
3.7.1 Underpinning concepts 44
3.7.2 Further methods 47
3.8 Other LRMs 47
3.8.1 Linear referencing 48
3.8.2 What 3 words 49
3.9 Usage of LRMs in some standards for ITS 49
3.9.1 DATEX II 49
3.9.2 TPEG 50
3.9.3 TN-ITS 51
3.9.4 INSPIRE 51
3.9.5 Geographic data files (GDFs) 52
3.10 Location accuracy 52
3.10.1 Location referencing accuracy example 52
3.10.2 Timeliness and currency 55
3.11 Outlook on current developments and future needs 56
References 57
 Contents vii

4 Digital coding, collation and exchange of traffic information 61

Paul Burton, Bev Marks and Jon Harrod Booth
4.1 Introduction 61
4.2 Background and context 61
4.2.1 Switching radio listeners to traffic and travel broadcasts 62
4.2.2 Route planners 63
4.2.3 Early navigation systems 63
4.2.4 The Road Traffic (Driver Licencing and Information)
Act 1989 and its order of 1990 63
4.3 Collation of traffic data and information 64
4.3.1 The BBC motoring and travel units 64
4.4 Exchange of traffic information 65
4.4.1 DATEX 65
4.4.2 Open Travel data Access Protocol – OTAP and Travel
Information Highways – TIH 66
4.4.3 DATEX II 66
4.5 Delivery of traffic and travel information to end-users using
RDS-TMC 68
4.5.1 Background 68
4.5.2 RDS-TMC 69
4.5.3 Open data architecture in RDS 69
4.5.4 The RDS-TMC ALERT C protocol 70
4.5.5 Location referencing 71
4.5.6 Primary and secondary locations 71
4.5.7 The event tables 71
4.5.8 Duration 72
4.5.9 Diversion advice 72
4.5.10 Message management 72
4.5.11 Implementations 72
4.6 TPEG 73
4.6.1 Background 73
4.6.2 TPEG binary 73
4.6.3 TPEG XML versions 75
4.6.4 Location referencing 76
4.6.5 TPEG2 76
4.6.6 Commercial exploitation 83
4.7 Outlook 83
References 83

5 European developments in traffic and travel information 85

Paul Burton, Bev Marks and Danny Woolard
5.1 Introduction 85
5.2 Background and context 85
5.2.1 The European Broadcasting Union 85
viii Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

5.2.2 Germany 86
5.2.3 France 86
5.2.4 The United Kingdom 86
5.3 The European programmes 87
5.3.1 DRIVE research and development programme (1988–1991) 87
5.3.2 DRIVE2 research and development programme (1992–1994) 88
5.3.3 The EU Third Framework Programme (FP3) (1992–1995) 89
5.3.4 The EU 4th Framework Programme (FP4) (1996–1999) 90
5.3.5 The Trans European Network – Transport Programme
(TEN-T) (1996–1999) 91
5.4 The International Transport Forum (ITF) 98
5.5 The TMC Forum (1999–2007) 98
5.6 The EBU (B/TPEG) (1997–2007) 99
5.7 Traveller Information Services Association – TISA (2007–Present) 100
5.8 Standardisation (1990–Present) 101
5.9 Outlook 106
5.9.1 Contribution of Europe to TTI development more generally 106
5.9.2 Cooperative ITS (C-ITS) 106
5.9.3 Connected cooperative automated mobility (CCAM) 106
5.9.4 Social media-driven services 106
5.9.5 National access points 106
5.9.6 Standards 107
References 107

6 The role of the commercial sector in developing road traffic

information in the UK and Europe 109
Danny Woolard
6.1 Introduction 109
6.2 Demonstration and early development 109
6.2.1 Communications & Measurement Technologies Ltd. (CMT) 109
6.2.2 ITIS Holdings 111
6.2.3 The Additional Services 1 (AS-1) Licence 112
6.3 Development of a national service 112
6.3.1 Commercial models 113
6.3.2 Digital maps and location coding 114
6.3.3 Location coding 115
6.3.4 In-car navigation, personal navigation and other traffic
receivers 116
6.3.5 Portable navigation devices and mobile/smartphone
navigation 116
6.4 The development and expansion of RDS-TMC services 118
6.4.1 Europe 118
6.4.2 Beyond Europe 119
6.5 From RDS-TMC to DAB broadcast 119
 Contents ix

6.5.1 Mobile.Info and RTIG 119

6.5.2 DAB TTI services 120
6.6 Conclusions and outlook 120

7 Dynamic road traffic signage 121

John Mitchell
7.1 Introduction 121
7.2 Background and context 122
7.3 Development of pictograms for VMS on the UK’s SRN 125
7.3.1 MS1 pictogram development 125
7.3.2 MS4 pictogram development 126
7.3.3 Development of MS4 displays for Smart motorways 126
7.3.4 Development of graphical information display panels 127
7.4 Established guidance on the use of VMS, including VMS message
design 129
7.4.1 Highways England/Highways Agency guidance 129
7.4.2 European guidance 130
7.5 VMS currently in use on the UK’s SRN 131
7.5.1 Control of VMS messages in England 132
7.5.2 Control of VMS messages in other parts of the UK 133
7.6 Limitations to the use of VMS 133
7.7 Typical VMS applications on the UK’s SRN 134
7.7.1 Tactical messages 134
7.7.2 Strategic messages 135
7.7.3 Driver information (link) messages 135
7.7.4 Driver information (network) messages 135
7.7.5 Travel time messages 136
7.7.6 Motorway incident detection and automatic
signalling (MIDAS) 136
7.7.7 Graphical route information messages 137
7.7.8 Diversion messages 137
7.7.9 Non-traffic information messages 137
7.7.10 Road works information 138
7.8 Urban traffic information provision by VMS 139
7.9 European perspective on the use of VMS 140
7.10 International perspective on the use of VMS 141
7.11 Lane control signals 142
7.11.1 Advisory and mandatory VSLs 142
7.11.2 Other lane control signals 143
7.12 Intelligent road studs 143
7.13 Portable VMS 144
7.13.1 Road works applications 144
7.13.2 Urban applications 145
7.14 Outlook 145
x Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

7.14.1 Relationships with other technologies and services 145

7.14.2 Anticipated future developments 145
References 146

8 Smart motorway information development 149

Neil Hoose
8.1 Introduction 149
8.2 Background and context 150
8.3 Technologies available 152
8.3.1 Technologies for measuring traffic and road conditions 152
8.3.2 Technologies for providing information 155
8.4 Managing capacity 156
8.4.1 Controlled motorway 156
8.4.2 Dynamic hard shoulder 164
8.4.3 All-lane running 169
8.5 Maintenance 171
8.5.1 Fault prioritisation 171
8.5.2 Time to repair 172
8.5.3 Access to technology at the roadside 173
8.6 Awareness, compliance and enforcement 174
8.7 Outlook 175
8.8 Conclusion 177
References 177

9 Contribution of cooperative ITS to road traffic and

travel information 179
Alan Stevens
9.1 Introduction to chapter 179
9.1.1 Intention and content 179
9.1.2 Introduction to cooperative ITS 180
9.2 Communications for C-ITS 180
9.3 European coordination activities 182
9.3.1 C-ITS platform 182
9.3.2 C-Roads platform 182
9.3.3 Delegated act 183
9.3.4 Display and human–machine interaction 183
9.4 Services 184
9.4.1 ‘Day 1’ and ‘Day 1.5’ services 184
9.4.2 Description of five key services 185
9.5 Security and legal issues 193
9.5.1 Security and public key infrastructure 193
9.5.2 Liability 194
9.5.3 Data protection and privacy 195
9.6 Assessment and evaluation of C-ITS 196
 Contents xi

9.6.1 Purposes and methodologies 196

9.6.2 Specific challenges with C-ITS evaluation 197
9.7 Field trials and C-ITS pilots 200
9.7.1 Learning from trials 200
9.7.2 UK CITE 201
9.7.3 InterCor 201
9.7.4 Other international developments 202
9.8 Business case and deployment of C-ITS 202
9.8.1 Market for C-ITS traffic and travel information 202
9.8.2 Driver acceptance and compliance 203
9.8.3 Business models 204
9.9 Outlook 205
References 205

10 Multimodal traffic and travel information 209

Nick Illsley
10.1 Early travel information 209
10.1.1 Travel on rail 209
10.1.2 Travelling by road 214
10.2 Transport Direct 217
10.2.1 Historical context 217
10.2.2 Connecting People to Places 218
10.2.3 Designing, building and operating Transport Direct 219
10.2.4 Launching Transport Direct 222
10.2.5 Operating and developing Transport Direct 224
10.2.6 Political Viewpoints 227
10.3 London 2012, an Olympian task 228
10.3.1 The requirement 228
10.3.2 Games time delivery 230
10.3.3 Measurement of success 232
10.3.4 London 2012 legacy and the demise of Transport Direct 234
10.4 Conclusion 236

11 Social media and traffic and travel information 237

Susan Grant-Muller, Frances Hodgson and Phil Cross
11.1 Introduction 237
11.2 Background and context 237
11.3 Twitter as a source of transport system data 239
11.3.1 Accessing Twitter data 239
11.3.2 A case study of Twitter for TTI 240
11.3.3 Twitter data set characteristics: time and location
distribution 241
11.4 Travel time estimation from Twitter data 246
11.4.1 Calculation of Twitter-based speed 246
xii Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

11.4.2 Correlation with loop speed data 247

11.5 Analysis of Twitter content for traffic management relevance 253
11.5.1 Definition of relevant content 253
11.5.2 Understanding relevance through stated traffic
management objectives 254
11.5.3 Understanding relevance through ontology 254
11.5.4 Classifying tweets as relevant or not-relevant 259
11.5.5 Classifying tweets using ontology 266
11.6 Conclusions 268
11.7 Acknowledgements 272
References 272

12 Social media services and business models 275

Fran Hodgson
12.1 Introduction 275
12.2 Background and context: ecosystems and added value 275
12.3 Alternative models for access to social media services 276
12.4 Business model canvas 278
12.5 Outsourcing/Proprietary services – accommodation of transport
as a specialism by typical proprietary services 278
12.5.1 Outsourcing scenario: user/customer interface 283
12.5.2 Outsourcing scenario: value proposition 284
12.5.3 Outsourcing scenario: infrastructure management 285
12.5.4 Outsourcing scenario: financial aspects 285
12.5.5 In-house provision 286
12.6 In-house scenario: user/customer interface 286
12.6.1 Distribution channel 289
12.6.2 Customer relationship 289
12.6.3 In-house scenario: value proposition 289
12.6.4 In-house scenario: infrastructure management 290
12.6.5 In-house scenario: financial aspects 291
12.7 Conclusions 292
References 293

13 Traffic and travel information into the future 295

Alan Stevens
13.1 Introduction 295
13.2 Major trends (Megatrends) 296
13.2.1 Shift in global economic power 296
13.2.2 Demographic changes 296
13.2.3 Increasing urbanisation 296
13.2.4 Rise of technology 297
13.2.5 Climate change 297
13.2.6 Sustainability and resource security 298
 Contents xiii

13.3 Future demands for transport 298

13.3.1 Passenger car 299
13.3.2 Bus 299
13.3.3 Micro-mobility 299
13.3.4 Rail 299
13.3.5 Summary of future UK transport demand 300
13.3.6 Managing transport demand 300
13.4 Emerging and future transport technology 301
13.4.1 Automation in transport 301
13.4.2 Road vehicle powertrains 302
13.4.3 Connectivity and IoT 303
13.4.4 Autonomous road vehicles 303
13.4.5 Parking technology 304
13.4.6 Road access and charging 304
13.4.7 Micro-mobility 305
13.4.8 Future modes of transportation 305
13.5 Trends and developments in mobility 306
13.5.1 Shared mobility 306
13.5.2 ‘End-to-end’ mobility services 307
13.5.3 The importance of sustainable business models 307
13.5.4 Scenarios of future mobility 308
13.6 Trends and developments in transport data 308
13.6.1 Data from connected vehicles 309
13.6.2 Public transport data 309
13.6.3 Social media 310
13.6.4 Other data sources 310
13.6.5 Big Data and trustworthy AI 310
13.6.6 Data standards development 311
13.6.7 Cybersecurity 312
13.6.8 Data governance for transport platforms 313
13.7 Strategic future plans 313
13.7.1 UK Government Industrial Strategy and future of
mobility study 314
13.7.2 Strategy papers from HE 314
13.7.3 ERTRAC future strategy 315
13.8 Reflections from contributed chapters 316
13.9 Conclusions and outlook 319
13.9.1 Transportation and TTI 319
13.9.2 Gathering, processing and disseminating TTI 320
13.9.3 Standards, business models and policy 321
References 321

Index 325
This page intentionally left blank
 About the editors

Paul Burton is a freelance consultant and expert in intelligent transport systems, in

particular, in traffic and traveller information. He has been the convenor of the
standards groups ISO/TC204 Working Group 10 (Traveller Information) and CEN/
TC278 WG4 (Traffic and Traveller Information) since 1996. Paul has been
involved in several international-scale projects, as well as serving as a technical
policy advisor for UK central government. Presently, Paul is working with the
European Commission on mobility integration.

Alan Stevens is a chartered engineer and fellow of the IET, and a visiting professor
at the University of Southampton, UK. He was previously research director of TRL
UK with interests including connected and automated vehicles, human behaviour
and evaluating the impacts of intelligent transport systems. He chaired ITS (UK),
serves on IET’s Transport Policy Panel and Automotive and Road Transport
Systems Professional Network, and is advisor to the IET Transportation book
program.
This page intentionally left blank
 Biographies

About the editors

Paul Burton

Paul is a freelance consultant and expert in

intelligent transport systems (ITS), in parti-
cular, the traffic and traveller information
field. He is presently, and has been since
1996, the Convenor of the standards groups
ISO/TC204 Working Group 10 (traveller
information) and its sister CEN/TC278
WG4 (traffic and traveller information).
Paul’s experience in ITS goes back to 1991
when he was part of the team developing
and implementing the SCOOT real-time
urban traffic control systems across the
world. Paul was one of the leading
researchers developing the radio data sys-
tems – traffic message channel and devel-
oping it through a number of European test
sites. Paul made led the large UK trial of RDS-TMC, which developed the business
models that drive the implementation of RDS-TMC across the world. Paul was a
technical policy advisor for the Central Government and its then Highways Agency
bringing a policy understanding to all aspects of ITS, including satellite positioning
and navigation systems. Presently, Paul is working with the European Commission
on Mobility Integration, particularly in the urban setting.

Alan Stevens

Alan is a visiting professor at the University

of Southampton. He has 30 years’ experi-
ence working on the application of new
technology to the transport environment and
is internationally recognised for research on
cooperative vehicle systems and for human–
machine interaction concerning the beha-
viour and safety of drivers using in-vehicle
technology. He contributes to international
work through European projects, books and
xviii Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

journals and is the previous Chair of ITS (UK). Alan’s work has included input to
policy development for the EC, UK Central Government and Highways England,
including on intelligent transport systems, cooperative and automated vehicles,
eCall, and standards. He is also involved in designing research studies carrying out
specific technical investigations and supervising Ph.D.s. Topics include the design
and assessment of driver information (both on-vehicle and off-vehicle) and the
safety and responsibility of drivers when using connected and increasingly auto-
mated vehicles. Until recently, Alan was the chief scientist and research director at
TRL (the UK Transport Research Laboratory) where he had responsibility for
ensuring the technical quality of a wide range of projects in transportation.

About the authors

Paul Hutton
Paul has had what can be described as a ‘varied career’. After gaining a degree
in mathematics and a brief period in the city, Paul trained as a broadcast journalist
on the prestigious course at Cardiff University before spending several years as a
radio presenter, newsreader and TV and radio sports reporter. Paul then switched to
concentrating on radio traffic news, overseeing the service to most stations in the
United Kingdom and introducing new sources of information and working with
developers to deliver an efficient traffic information gathering and dissemination
tool. He then ran the European division of an American-owned global traffic
information company and oversaw operations in Australia, Canada and the United
States, also working on a fledgling app-based service as well as supplying the then-
Highways Agency with its traffic radio station. Paul then left day-to-day traffic
information and returned to journalism, editing SMART Highways for five years
and now co-owns the transport-related news website Highways-News.com and,
given his radio roots, introducing a popular ITS-related podcast which he presents
from events around the world. Paul is also a keen supporter of the UK’s Intelligent
Transport Society, and acts as its part-time communications manager.

Jon Harrod Booth

Jon is an independent consultant with more than 25 years’ experience within
the field of intelligent transport systems (ITS) and highway-oriented systems spe-
cification and deployment. He has a long heritage in the specification and stan-
dardisation for traffic management data exchange and is the current convenor of
CEN/TC278’s Working Group 8, Road data, which is responsible for the standar-
disation of the European ‘DATEX II’ 16157 family of standards. He has been a
member of that group for more than 20 years. Jonathan was part of the DATEX (I)
task force in the mid-1990s, and one of the lead modellers for DATEX II. He also
has broad spectrum of interests in location referencing and highway network
modelling. Historically, he supported the Conference of European Directors of
Roads (CEDR) Road Data Sub-Group addressing the issues relating to the
exchange of traffic data, network data and network referencing approaches;
 Biographies xix

representing CEDR on two high-level European mapping initiatives – as the Public

Sector representative to the e-safety group on Digital Maps (chaired by NAVTEQ
& TeleAtlas) and as a reference group to the EuroRoads Project consortium
(National Mapping Agencies). Continuing this work, he was recently a member of
the CEN Project Team PT0701 developing this first version of the TN-ITS CEN
Technical Specification (CEN/TS17268). Jonathan is a member of ISO/TC211
Geographic Information/Geometics, currently leading a work item that is seeking
improved alignment between GIS standards and standards used for network model
and map definition within ISO/TC204 ITS. He has consulted on network models
and asset management for several large public sector organisations. For Highways
England, Jonathan led the deployment of a new definitive network model used
within their Integrated Asset Management system. He is a member of ISO TC204
WG3, the standards committee developing ITS location referencing and digital
mapping standards.

Bev Marks
Bev trained at the BBC, England, qualifying as a broadcast and
communications engineer; he spent 25þ years working on radio & tv studio and
network systems, including the role of Project Manager RDS, BBC Radio with
responsibility for the multi-disciplinary team developing RDS technology, instal-
ling transmission equipment nation-wide, central computers and network circuits.
Latterly in his BBC career Bev was also Project Manager Travel Information
Systems, responsible for on-line computer based travel reporting in Police and
Public Authority control rooms, linked to Broadcasting House.
Bev was involved internationally in RDS development representing the BBC
on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) RDS Technical Experts Group and
Working Groups, including R/RDS-TMC and Universal Protocol. He is co-author
of a number of RDS patents.
Following several years industrial experience with a professional broadcast
equipment designer and manufacturer, he became a freelance broadcast engineer
and spent 14 years, mainly working as a senior broadcast engineer, for the EBU
working on many projects, including RDS, TMC and TTI Message Exchange
Systems and DAB systems developments.
During this period he became the Secretary to the EBU/RDS Forum and the
RDS specification, EN 50067, Working Group, Chairman of the RDS Guidelines
Working Group and Organiser of the EBU RDS Registrations Office.
Bev worked as a broadcast expert for the EC DG VII DEFI project during 1995
and took on the broadcast systems expert role with the CEN TC 278 SWG 4.1
which undertook RDS-TMC standardisation and within the FORCE Project on
RDS-TMC Implementation matters.
Meanwhile he worked as Senior Engineer on the EC DG XIII EBU-EPISODE
project, to undertake broadcast sector co-ordination of the RDS-TMC projects of
the 4th Framework RTD programme.
With the advent of the EBU initiative to establish the Transport Protocol
Experts Group, Bev was its founding Secretary and quickly became its Chairman
xx Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

which he project managed through a period of change to become the TPEG Forum.
Eventually he managed the joint decision to amalgamate with the TMC Forum into
what is now the very well established TISA.
Bev was appointed the founding Executive Director of the Traveller
Information Services Association (TISA). Bev established the structures and
organisation of TISA that would serve efficiently and effectively the TISA mem-
bership, which comes from a very diverse industry. He is most pleased to see some
7 years after his retirement that TISA is still proving to be a key focus for TTI
services. He was honoured on his retirement in 2012 in being awarded a Fellowship
of the TISA.

Danny Woolard
Danny is an engineer by background specialising in survey and navigation and
now runs his own consultancy business (Chiltech). He has been actively involved in
the Traffic & ITS industry for over 25 years. His former business developed and
deployed the first commercial broadcast traffic service based on RDS-TMC in the
UK, finally selling this business to EU traffic service provider ITIS which, in 2011,
was acquired by INRIX. After 8 years heading up ITIS’s traffic business and with
long family ties to Australia, Danny moved to Australia in 2007, where he con-
tinued his career as GM Operations with traffic and telematics service provider
Intelematics. In 2012, Danny returned to Europe to work with INRIX.
Danny has played a significant role in the development of commercial Traffic
Services in the European market, both commercially and in European industry
groups, he chaired the TMC Forum for 4 years and oversaw its merger with the
TPEG Forum to create what is now TISA (Traveller Information Services
Association). He is still an active member of the TISA community as part of his
consultancy role with GEWI Europe.
Danny now lives and works from Devon, UK. A devout ‘Petrolhead’ and owns
a small collection of classic cars which he participates in Sprints and Hillclimbs.

John Mitchell
John is a senior researcher at the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). He
has over 18 years’ research experience in the signing field, including fixed traffic
signs, variable-message signs and temporary traffic management signs. He has
been the technical lead for several research projects for the Department of
Transport, the Highways Agency/Highways England and Transport for London.
John has represented TRL in his specialist signing role at working group meetings
and technical workshops forming part of the UK Government’s Traffic Signs
Policy Review. He was the technical lead for one of the Policy Review’s major
research projects on reducing sign clutter. John took a lead author role in a
consultancy-based project for a Middle Eastern Government to update their Traffic
Signs Design Manual. John was the lead researcher at the TRL for the off-road
research trials conducted at TRL, in 2003, of the Motorway Signal Mark 4 (MS4).
John’s signing expertise has recently been used for a project commissioned by
 Biographies xxi

Highways England to review their variable signs and signals (VSS) policy from a
human factor’s perspective.

Neil Hoose
Neil is a graduate civil engineer with an M.Sc. in Transport and a Ph.D. in the
application of computer vision techniques to transport. He has a track record in
leading transport-related projects in both industry and academia, including director-
level appointments in consultancy and manufacturing. With over 30 years in the
field, his experience ranges from academic research and teaching through project
management to manufacture and supply of electronic systems to the traffic data and
control industry. Since 1999, he has been an independent consultant in intelligent
transport systems. His consultancy activities encompass the public sector and pri-
vate sector clients. Alongside particular experience in traffic monitoring technol-
ogies and traffic control and data systems, he is involved in Smart Motorways,
connected vehicle-infrastructure systems and travel information systems. In addi-
tion, Neil is a visiting professor at the Centre for Transport Studies, Imperial
College London and is engaged in teaching at undergraduate and Master’s level as
well as supporting the centre’s research into intelligent transport systems. In 2019,
Neil was awarded a post-graduate certificate in cyber security management by the
University of Warwick.

Nick Illsley
Nick spent 26 years as a career railwayman having joined the British Rail from
School in 1976. During this period, the industry went through the privatisation
process and Nick became part of the Board for the newly privatised Thames Trains
company. Finally, he headed National Rail Enquiries before joining the Civil
Service in August 2002 as the chief executive at Transport Direct. The Transport
Direct portal was launched on 30 December 2004 and then serviced over
100 million user sessions. Highlights included working with the Olympics Family
to deliver journey planning services for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games and embedding accessible travel as a GB-wide service. Nick was also
responsible for driving the transport transparency strategy across the sector, which
has been considered to be one of the success stories of Open Data in terms of both
re-use and also new applications for end-users. When the Transport Direct portal
closed on 30 September 2014, Nick decided to call time on life at the DfT and is
now enjoying some more leisure time and is also helping organisations use data and
information to drive efficiency and better customer experience. Outside work, his
interests revolve around sport (an optimistic but always worried England and Leeds
fan), family (a daughter of 35 and a son of 33 and three grandsons of 6, 4 and 2) and
trying to keep in touch with as many friends and colleagues as possible.

Susan Grant-Muller
Susan is Professor of Technologies and Informatics at the Institute for
Transport Studies, University of Leeds, and a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute.
Susan’s research is at the multidisciplinary interface between digital technologies,
xxii Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

Big Data and transport under a low carbon energy future. She leads the ‘Digital
Futures’ research theme at ITS, a research theme initiated by Prof. Grant-Muller in
2015 and building on rapid and recent developments in pervasive technology. Her
specific interests are in incentivising behavioural change to reduce the carbon
burden of the transport sector, the role of Big Data in sustainable transport para-
digms, the evaluation of new technology-based intelligent transport schemes and
the resilience of ICT-enhanced transport.

Frances Hodgson
Frances is a senior research fellow at the University of Leeds. She has
30 years’ experience working on the social impacts of transport. She contributes to
international work through European and nationally funded projects providing
specialist input on the interaction between transport, social equity, behaviour,
social organisation and transport policy and was co-investigator on H2020
EMPOWER, ESRC HABITs, Alan Turing Institute KARMA projects, all of which
are concerned with the application and value of new data forms (e.g., mobile apps,
social media). She was UK representative for the COST GenderSTE action on
Transport and Gender, expert advisor to the Co-Motion project on older people’s
mobility. She has 15 years of experience in providing capacity building in the form
of Masters training and short courses and Doctoral student supervision and is the
programme director for the MSc Transport Planning. She has published for the
Equal Opportunities Commission and in the many international journals.
 Foreword

Travel is part of our modern world and ever

since transport has been available there has
been a need for information about service
operations. The sustained growth in road
travel has prompted a parallel wish for
information about the performance of the
road network, since congestion and other
incidents can seriously affect journey times.
For many years the United Kingdom
has been a leader in the field of traffic
and travel information (TTI), taking early
advantage of data collection and information technology to measure performance,
to better manage networks and to keep travellers informed before they travel and
during the trip. The UK Government was a pioneer in recognising the widespread
benefits of up-to-date reliable information and led the way in passing legislation to
encourage the involvement of private sector operators in the TTI field. The UK
continues to be a major contributor to international standards and a sponsor of
research into new or improved services.
I am delighted to see this book which is edited by two experts who have been
deeply involved in the topic for many years and with whom I have had the great
pleasure of working. It not only contains a wealth of technical information but also
tells the story, for the first time, of how traffic and travel information developed in
the UK and how it influenced European and worldwide developments. It looks back
to the early days of journalistic broadcasting of traffic information, covers devel-
opments in digital and mobile technology and also comes up to date with connected
vehicles and social media. Even with the expected increase in automation of
transport operations, the need for traffic and travel information has not diminished
and so this book is likely to remain relevant to engineers working on future inte-
grated and seamless mobility services for many years.

Professor Eric Sampson CBE

Transport Operations Group
Newcastle University
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 Glossary of acronyms and technical terms

AA A commercial UK provider of motoring services. Previously,

the Automobile Association
ADAS Advanced driver assistance systems
AGORA-CTM A dynamic location referencing method
AI Artificial intelligence – software
ALERT C A standard list of traffic-relevant messages
ALR All-lane running – one aspect of Smart Motorways
AMI Advanced motorway indicator – an early dynamic roadsign
ANPR Automatic number plate reader – equipment to convert the
images of number plates into digital character strings
API An interface or communication protocol between different
parts of a computer program intended to simplify the
implementation and maintenance of software
AS-1 Additional service licence permitting the use of RDS groups
on the Classic FM RDS datastream
ASTRID Automatic SCOOT Traffic Information Database which
stores and processes data from SCOOT sensors
AV Automated vehicle
b2b Business to business – a commercial transaction between
businesses (rather than end-users) of good or services
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation – A UK mass media
broadcasting organisation
BCA Benefit–cost analysis
BCR Benefit–cost ratio
Bluetooth A short-range wireless technology standard used for
exchanging the data between fixed and mobile devices
Business model A plan of operation including products, services, customers,
financing and expected revenues
CAV Connected automated vehicle (or Connected autonomous
vehicle)
CCAM Connected cooperative automated mobility
CCTV Closed-circuit TeleVision – a system for sending pictures to
one or more specific locations
xxvi Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

CD Compact disc – an optical disc data medium originally

developed to store music
CEN European Committee for Standardization
CENELEC European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
C-ITS Cooperative intelligent transport systems
CV Connected vehicle
DAB Digital audio broadcast
DATEX A data exchange standard
DfT UK Department for Transport (previously Department of
Transport and Department for Environment, Transport and
the Regions (DETR))
dGPS Differential GPS – a technique for boosting the accuracy of
GPS during selective availability operation
DRIVE Part of the European Commission’s 2nd Framework
Research Programme (FP2) 1988–1991
DSRC Dedicated short-range communication
EBU European Broadcasting Union
EC European Commission
eCall A system for automatic notification of a vehicle crash to
emergency services
EMS Enhanced message sign
EN European Norm – Full European standard
EON Extended other networks, a method of signally the existence
of a traffic report on a radio station to other stations in the
same network
ERTICO A public–private partnership organisation active in ITS and
based in Brussels
ETA Estimated time of arrival also Toyota’s ‘Electronic Traffic
Avoidance’
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
FM Frequency modulation – a method for encoding signals
used, for example, in radio broadcasting
FOT Field operational test
FVD Floating vehicle data
GCDP Graphical congestion display panel
GDF Geographic data files – a standard for defining road network
data used in Intelligent transport systems
GDPR General data protection regulation
GLOSA Green light-optimised speed advice
GNSS Global navigation satellite system
 Glossary of acronyms and technical terms xxvii

GPS Global positioning system – a satellite-based radio-naviga-

tion system owned by the US government
GRIP Graphical route information panel
HD High definition – e.g. of a map or a display
Highways Agency Former name of Highways England
Highways England A UK government-owned organisation charged with
operating, maintaining and improving most of England’s
motorways and major A roads (previously Highways
Agency)
HIOCC HIgh OCCupancy – a software algorithm which aims to
detect the traffic congestion from road loop data
HMI Human machine interaction (or interface), previously called
man machine interface (MMI)
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – a
US-based standards organisation
INSPIRE An abbreviated name for an infrastructure for spatial
information in the European Community
IoT Internet of Things – a network of physical objects capable
of detecting and communicating information between each
other using embedded sensors, software and connectivity
ISO International Organization for Standardization
ITF International Transport Forum (ITF) – an inter-
governmental organisation within the OECD
ITS Intelligent transport systems
ITU International Telecommunication Union – an agency of the
United Nations specialising in information and commu-
nication technologies
IVS In-vehicle signage
LED Light-emitting diode
LiDAR A detection system that uses pulse-encoded laser light to
measure the range, angle or velocity of objects (see also
RADAR)
Location code (supporting RDS) A 16-bit code that specifies a point
(node), segment or area within a geographic region
LRM Location referencing method
LRS Location referencing system
MaaS Mobility as a Service – the integration of various forms
of transport into a single mobility service accessible
on demand
Micromobility The use of individual micro-transport such as cycles and
scooters
xxviii Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

MIDAS Motorway incident detection and automatic signalling – a

distributed network of sensors which measure traffic per-
formance and help set signs to improve the traffic flow
MS Member State
MS{n} Matrix signal – a type of dynamic roadsign used on the
motorway MS1, MS2, MS3, MS4, etc.
NaPTAN National Public Transport Access Nodes – UK standard and
database
NMCS2 National Motorway Communication System – used by the
UK Highways Agency
NPTG National Public Transport Gazetteer
NRES National Rail Enquiry Service
NTCC National Traffic Control Centre (later, National Traffic
Operations Centre)
OBU On-board unit
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OEM Original equipment manufacturer – referring to manu-
facturer of a road vehicle
OpenLRTM A dynamic location referencing method
OSGR Ordnance Survey grid reference
PDA Personal digital assistant
PKI Public key infrastructure – a system for secure transmission
of data
PND Portable navigation device
PTE Passenger transport executive
PVD Probe vehicle data
RAC A commercial UK provider of motoring services.
Previously, the Royal Automobile Club
RADAR A detection system that uses radio waves to determine the
range, angle or velocity of objects (See also LiDAR)
RCC Regional Control Centre
RDS Radio Data System
RTTI Road traffic and travel information
RTTT Road transport and traffic telematics (an older term for what
was known as intelligent transport systems (ITS))
RWW Road works warning
SA Selective availability – a mode of operation which effec-
tively downgraded the accuracy of GPS positioning
SCOOT Split cycle offset optimisation technique – an area-wide
system for coordinating and controlling traffic lights
 Glossary of acronyms and technical terms xxix

SIM Subscriber identity module – a microchip in a mobile device

that connects it to a particular phone network
Smart motorway A section of road with variable speed limits and hard
shoulder running (previously called ‘Managed Motorway’)
SMMT Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
SPaT Signal phase and timing
SRN Strategic Road Network – the UK’s motorways and ‘trunk’
roads (major ‘A’-class roads)
TCC Traffic Control Centre
TDM Traffic (or Travel) demand management
TfL Transport for London – the UK capital’s transport authority
Thick client A computer system that runs an application which can
locally access all the data and other resources needed to
operate
Thin client A computer system that runs an application which accesses
most of its data and other resources from a remote server
TISA Travel Information Services Association
TMC Traffic message channel
TMC Forum A non-profit organization of public and private organisa-
tions formed to discuss traffic information-related matters
(subsumed into the TISA, in 2007).
TMS Traffic Management System
TN-ITS Transport networks for intelligent transport systems – a
standard for the exchange of static road data
TOC Train operating company
TPEG Transport Protocol Expert Group – a data protocol suite for
delivering traffic and travel-related information via multiple
different transmission media
Traffic Officer Employees of Highways England, who work alongside the
police to help managing incidents on motorways and
trunk roads
Transport Direct A multi-modal transport planner for the UK
Travel Information Highways Agency initiative to exchange real-time traffic-
Highway relevant information to information-service providers
TRL A UK research laboratory, previously Transport Research
Laboratory and TRRL Transport and Road Research
Laboratory
TS Technical Specification – intermediate standard
TTI Traffic and travel information
UML A widely used software package for system design and
specification
xxx Collection and Delivery of Traffic and Travel Information

UTC Urban Traffic Control

UTMC Urban Traffic Management and Control
V2V Vehicle-to-vehicle – indicating communication of data
between vehicles
V2X ‘Vehicle-to-Anything’ – indicating communications
between vehicles and other vehicles, infrastructure and
mobile devices
Value chain The series of linked activities that one or more organisations
need to perform in order to deliver a product or service
VMS Variable message sign
VSL Variable-speed limit
WGS84 A standardised coordinate reference system for locating
points on the earth’s surface
XML eXtensible markup language – software used to represent
the data structures, particularly for Internet services
 Introduction

This book is the result of a desire by a range of UK ITS professionals to record the
progress in traffic and traveller information (TTI), particularly from its origins in the
United Kingdom which then influenced and, of course, interacted with developments
in Europe and indeed the rest of the world. The chapters have been contributed by
leading exponents in the field of TTI and encompass collaborations during research
and development through to implementation by industry; hence, the very different
styles of the chapters and complementary overlap from different perspectives.
It should be appreciated that traffic information came much later than the need
to provide travellers with information on their journeys, for instance, to markets or
on pilgrimages, so TTI (or just traveller information) might be a better title as
traffic information is just a contributary part, albeit a substantial one, of the whole
travel picture.
Travellers have always needed information before and during their travels,
whether it be which roads/paths are open, which are safe, facilities on route such as
staging posts and hostelries, the availability and costs of ferries and bridges, and the
time needed to complete their journeys. Originally this information was passed on
by word of mouth and was of an informal nature; then, mileposts and road signs at
intervals and decision points gave some further information to the traveller.
The collection of information became part of the TTI story from the turnpike
operation which needed to assess the income from traffic over a toll bridge or toll
road, to the stage-coach operator who wanted to assess the demand for their services.
Detecting and counting of vehicles has a long history in the developed countries
since the rapid increase in road transport during the twentieth century; there has
always been a need to count and classify! Of course, in the early days it was a totally
manual operation with the toll keeper inspecting every vehicle and charging appro-
priately. Today, we have much more sophisticated methodologies with gantries and
video detection systems to determine the type of vehicle and load in order to apply a
charge. Emerging technology now allows the collection of a much broader range of
data from vehicles and the technology is likely to extend even further with remote
sensing from satellites. In between these extremes there is a panoply of technology
used for a variety of purposes.
Traffic data is not only collected by instrumentation; visual reports and more
‘journalist’ information are collected from the ground or from the air as part of the
media editorial contribution.
2 Collection and delivery of traffic and travel information

During the years up until the early 1990s, the provision of TTI, at least in the
United Kingdom, was almost entirely the preserve of the public sector which ran
train and regulated bus services and were responsible, totally, for the roads. Then,
with privatisation of most travel services the private sector moved in to supply TTI
as a service to travellers, and this has further increased following the advent of
social media where data is crowdsourced and is increasingly being integrated with
other services. In all these myriad offerings, business cases are key to providing
sustainable services.
From the early 2000s, only a small proportion of the TTI available was able to
be widely broadcast because time-slots on television, and even more so on radio,
were limited. In addition, the broadcasting areas were so large that only travel
information of national strategic importance was considered appropriate rather than
local information that would be of real use, so only to a relatively small proportion
of the broadcast audience.
The collection, collation and transmission of TTI has been transformed
through digital coding with standardised applications such as DATEX 2, RDS-
TMC and TPEG, and, increasingly, this coded information is now being integrated
into intelligent agents and within in-vehicle services, such as satellite navigation.
Much of the research and development (R & D) of TTI systems in Europe has
been supported by the European Union Framework R & D programmes and has
been trialled in cross border projects. These developments have informed and been
complementary with standardisation work in Europe and internationally. Whilst
recognising this wider context, this book offers many examples of developments
and deployments of TTI in the United Kingdom, which has both contributed to and
benefitted from this wider international collaboration on TTI.
TTI services would be largely useless without providing geographical and
other contextual information to allow users to make sense of the messages. As a
key part of the TTI story, this book details the development and application of
location referencing services.
TTI does not exist in isolation as an application but plays an integral part in the
operation of many transport services. For example, in an inter-urban road context,
TTI supports the development and rollout of ‘smart’ motorways where messages to
drivers can have an immediate effect on their behaviour and help to ensure safe and
efficient use of the road space. The backbone for immediate delivery of this traffic
information to drivers is through the development and implementation of dynamic
signage (variable message signs), which provides dynamic traffic information to
road users on the UK’s Strategic Road Network, but also the provision of traffic
information on non-strategic roads, primarily in urban areas.
As we look to the future of road travel, a current focus to improve safety and
increase capacity is for vehicles to actively cooperate with the road infrastructure
and, eventually, with other vehicles. This ‘Cooperative Intelligent Transport
System’ approach will use the whole spectrum of the TTI applications along with
other intelligent transport technologies, particularly communications.
Much of the TTI described in this book focuses on road transport because that
is where most initiatives begin as there is no inherent data collection and
 Introduction 3

dissemination as in railway scheduling and signalling systems. However, the

traveller requires information about all forms of transport provided as a service. For
example, due to privatisation of the railways and buses there has never been a
greater need for integration of information (both timetabled and dynamic) to allow
seamless and efficient travel, both in everyday lives and for mega-events like the
Olympics. These topics are therefore addressed in a specific chapter of this book.
Information being crowd-sourced and then made freely available is increasingly
taking the place of more traditional collection and dissemination of data and information
by public authorities. Of course, there is no such thing as free information and there is a
chapter on the business models associated with social media provision of TTI. These are
markedly different from the business models that had to be formed for TTI services like
RDS-TMC.
But to the future . . . . We can only see where we are heading at present,
knowing that the world and society is likely to change in ways we cannot yet
imagine. To some extent we can foresee the range of technologies that we have
available, but how they will be applied may surprise us. It seems likely that the
nature of city and town centres will change from what we experience now so that
TTI may look very different. At the time of writing this introduction we are in the
midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and our society and interactions are changing our
social and behavioural perspectives, probably permanently. However, the human
race will always have the need to travel and TTI will always have a part to play.
The editors wish to acknowledge and thank the selfless contributions from
each of the chapter authors and to Valda Stevens, who assisted greatly with all the
proof-reading and consistency checking. Of course, the contributors to this book
are only a small proportion of the many ITS professionals, in the public, private and
international organisations who through their collaborative efforts have made ITS
the industry it is today.
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter 1
Road traffic data collection
Paul Burton1 and Neil Hoose2

1.1 Introduction
Detecting and counting of vehicles has a long history in the developed countries;
there has always been a need to count and classify vehicles from the days of private
roads and bridges with their manual toll charges for different classes of vehicles
and goods. Of course, in the early days, it was a totally manual operation with the
toll keeper inspecting every vehicle and charging appropriately. Today, we have a
much more sophisticated methodology with gantries and video detection systems to
determine the type of vehicle and load to apply a charge. Emerging technology
allows the collection of a much broader range of data from vehicles and the tech-
nology is likely to extend even further with remote sensing from satellites. In
between these extremes, there is a panoply of technology used for a variety of
purposes.
This chapter considers different types of data detection and collection and
suggests how they are used, rather than starting with an application requirement
and determining the type of data required; it also concerns the collection of data for
use in road transport and does not consider the detection and collection for rail and
air.

1.2 Background and context

Data can be numerical, such as so many vehicles per hour, or it can be contextual
and qualitative or a combination or repurposing of both. The data can be collected
for a range of purposes including planning, revenue collection, Traffic manage-
ment, driver hours, vehicle maintenance status and traveller information. Traffic
data can be not only collected and used in real time but also stored and used to look
at trends.

1
CEN/TC278 WG4 and ISO/TC204 WG10 – Traffic and Traveller Information, Worcestershire, UK
2
Bittern Consulting Ltd., Oxfordshire, UK
6 Collection and delivery of traffic and travel information

1.2.1 Collection of data for use in real time

Early examples of real-time collection come from the turnpike operators in their
toll house detecting vehicles or people wanting to make a passage along the road or
over the bridge; classifying the vehicle, for example, as cart with goods, cart with
passengers, cart with one horse, cart with locals, cart with non-locals and charging
them accordingly. Those attempting to avoid the toll would be passed over to the
local authority, be that police or a local force.
Modern tolling systems can classify vehicles by, for example, number of axels
or weight or weight per axel, type of vehicle, and account holding regular use
vehicles. This allows a charge to be levied either to an account or determined to be
paid at a later date. Often the registration plate of the vehicle is used to determine the
type and ownership of the vehicle and to identify miscreants for penalty charging or
further enforcement.
Motorway and urban traffic control systems generally use data in real time to
operate their control and intervention systems. This data can come from direct
observation, in-road surface detectors such as loops, CCTV, automatic number
plate recognition (ANPR), reports and so on.

1.2.2 Collection of historical data for analysis

Authorities and other researchers often use traffic data collected for the purpose of
off-line analysis or reuse data collected for other real-time purposes, for example,
looking at real-time trends vs. historical data. Data that goes back many years may
also be analysed to show the trends in the use of infrastructure.

1.3 Traffic reports

The earliest and most qualitative of traffic data is verbal reports by those out on
the infrastructure, reporting back (to a base or control centre) what they
observed whilst undertaking journeys or activities on the road. This section
describes the range of reports from third parties rather than the authorities and road
operators.

1.3.1 Motoring organisations’ patrols

In the early days of motoring, travellers were often members of motoring organi-
sations to get roadside assistance for vehicles that were not as reliable as they are
today. The Automobile Association (AA) [1] was established in 1905 with the
intention of warning fellow members of speed traps by a system of signals and
salutes from a force of pedal cyclists! Within a few years, the AA were offering
insurance policies and roadside breakdown assistance using motorcycle and four-
wheel patrol vans.
It was a similar story with the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) [2] which started
a few years earlier in 1897 in response to the restrictive ‘Red Flag Act’ of 1986 and
campaigned for the 1903 Motor Car Act. In 1905, in a similar way to the AA, the
 Road traffic data collection 7

RAC provided assistance and guides on bicycles, then motorcycles and vans were
gradually introduced.
Both the RAC and AA patrols out on the road were useful sources of motoring
information and were the bedrock of the traffic situation services for the members
of their organisations. Of course, there were only reports of traffic conditions where
a patrol happened to be at the time; in essence very piecemeal.
Communications from the patrols in the early days, before personal two-way
radio, was via the AA and RAC call boxes that used land lines. Even up to the late
1970s, the AA members’ pack contained a key for the AA telephone boxes!
At the time of writing, the RAC do not directly provide traffic and travel
information. The AA still do, via their AA Roadwatch services, but it is doubtful
whether much information now comes from patrols.

1.3.2 Police and emergency centre reports

The police and other emergency services have always been a source of traffic
information. Experience in the early days of digital traffic messaging such as the
radio data system traffic message channel (RDS-TMC, discussed in later chapters of
this book) showed that in the Germanic nations, a traffic incident didn’t officially
occur unless it was reported and logged by the police. Message sets for RDS-TMC
differentiate quite clearly between Police Officers, Police Cadets and Others.
In the United Kingdom, the police and emergency services, however, are (quite
rightly) more interested in dealing with the incident than in provide traffic information;
this led in the 1990s to the provision of the National Traffic Control Centre (later
National Traffic Operations Centre) and the Regional Control Centres which con-
centrated on network operation and traffic information.
Since the mid-2000s, the Highways Agency (now Highways England) Traffic
Officers [3] have been patrolling the Motorway and Trunk Road network and, as
well as providing assistance and ensuring the traffic flows freely during incidents,
have been a valuable source of traffic data.

1.3.3 Radio audience (‘jam busters’)

With increasing numbers of drivers having access to a mobile phone in the course
of their journeys, a new breed of traffic situation reporter was born.
In the 2000s, radio stations and motoring organisations recruited ‘jambusters’ –
members of the public who phoned reports of abnormal traffic conditions (when it
was safe to do so). To ensure the validity of the reports, many organisations regis-
tered their jambusters so that all information was attributed. Discussions over the air
with jambusters quickly formed part of the editorial material of many radio stations
in the same way that ‘Sally Traffic’ became an integral part of the BBC Radio 2 in the
afternoons in the United Kingdom with almost 8 million listeners at its peak.
Frequently, these jambuster reports were considered entertainment editorial, parti-
cularly by local radio stations who used it to define themselves as being involved in
their local community. In the same category are reports from helicopter and plane-
based surveillance – as discussed in Chapter 2.
8 Collection and delivery of traffic and travel information

1.4 Closed circuit television (CCTV)

1.4.1 Visual monitoring
For many years, CCTV surveillance of busy junctions and major features, such as
long bridges and tunnels, has played a significant part in traffic management
where there were control centres (covering cities, major bridges and tunnels).
These early systems were monochrome and the communications to get sufficient
bandwidth for an image were expensive. As late as the mid-1980s, many systems
used ‘slow scan’ which meant that the image was only refreshed every second or
so. This was sufficient for traffic control but hardly suitable for Traffic and Travel
purposes.
The late 1990s and early 2000s saw the advent of network-based systems that
allowed colour images in real time and the reduction of costs. This, and increased
system reliability, led to the widespread deployment of cameras particularly on the
motorway and trunk road network. By the early 2000s, the then Highways Agency
made camera images available in real-time to radio and TV stations and eventually
the general public. At the time of writing, these are available via the Highways
England Traffic Camera website [4]. It is possible to decouple cameras from the
system in the case of serious incidents where the cameras are used for monitoring
and control and the images not suitable for the general public. At present the
downloading of moving images is by permission only for agreed purposes, but still
images are available after a simple registration.
Traffic control room staff can get an idea of the saturation levels and traffic
speeds by referencing the passing of vehicles against fixed assets such as the lane
markings.

1.4.2 Image-processing to form incident alerts

The installed traffic camera base is generally used for visual monitoring and typically a
control room only has 20 camera images displayed at any one time. Images are only
monitored by control room staff where there is a declared incident or to observe known
congestion ‘hotspots’; not the most efficient use of an expensive manpower resource
when ‘eyes’ need to be everywhere.
It is now the practice in tunnels to employ the image analysis software to detect
incidents. If the system detects slow moving or stationary traffic, it generates an alert
for operators to look closely at the scene and determine a course of action. The soft-
ware detects individual vehicles and analyses their progress across the image frame.
The managed motorway schemes [5] make similar, more complex and wider
ranging use of automated image analysis to detect slow moving and stationary
vehicles particularly on what was originally the hard shoulder.
As in interesting aside, the author has been told by a software provider is that
image-processing is used on a number of stations to detect potential suicides. The
system identifies and tracks individuals on the platform and if an individual lets
3 trains stop and move off, that they possibly might jump in front of the fourth; if
so, an alert is raised and a member of the station staff dispatched to enquire about
 Road traffic data collection 9

the wellbeing of the individual, ghoulish, but an illustration of the power of image-
processing for incident detection.
No doubt that by the time of the publication of this book even more powerful
software and systems will be developed to make the most of the CCTV resource, if
one can still call it closed circuit in these days of complex wide area networks.

1.5 Road surface monitoring/counting

Traffic surveying has traditionally been undertaken manually using volunteers
armed with a counter, clipboard and folding chair. This method is reasonably
effective for counting and classifying vehicles but depends on the ability and
tenacity of the surveyors. This section describes developments in technology which
over time have been able to automate the process and allow better analysis both in
real time and offline.

1.5.1 Census vs. real time

For many years, automatic counters and classifiers have been employed [6] that can be
used for both offline and real-time applications. Firstly, detection and classification
(the splitting of vehicle types into classes) can become census-type information for the
purposes of offline analysis and planning. Generally, this data is used in time period
slots such as every 5 min or even as large as every hour or day. Note that there are many
systems on the road network recording and transmitting data every minute, or less, for
the data to then be amalgamated into hourly packages for analysis – but in the future
this finer time resolution data might be useful.
The same issue of data reduction is true for lane resolution. Most detectors can
detect by lane, but the static data is often amalgamated to carriageway resolution.
The second application area is that of real-time control where data is needed at
a much higher time resolution. For instance, the split-cycle offset optimisation
technique (SCOOT) real-time adaptive urban traffic control system [7] takes data
from its loop detectors 4 times per second. There are also systems that can transmit
data (by vehicle type) on a vehicle by vehicle and lane by lane basis. Thus, traffic
patterns at one point can be cross correlated with downstream patterns to get an
idea of journey times. This sort of data is increasingly being provided by floating
vehicle systems which will be discussed in a later chapter of this book, but these do
not provide lane level resolution (at present).

1.5.2 Rubber tube traffic counters

The earliest traffic counters were based on pneumatic rubber tubes, sealed at one
end and attached across the carriageway. The other end of the tube is attached to a
box, generally attached by chain to a convenient lamppost; inside the box is a
pneumatically activated switch that is attached to a simple numerical counter. This
simple system counts axels in both directions. Of course, the rubber tubes are
vulnerable to damage by vehicles and by vandalism.
10 Collection and delivery of traffic and travel information

Figure 1.1 Pneumatic tube system

More sophisticated systems were introduced with two tubes set at a known
distance apart. This allows counting separately in both directions; the direction of the
vehicle being determined by which tube is activated first. Again, the system counts
axels, so derived vehicle count estimates will not be entirely accurate, depending on
the mix of vehicles at the site and whether vehicles trigger the counter tubes simul-
taneously. A double-tube system can also calculate speeds – the time from triggering
of the first tube to triggering of the second tube. The photograph of a rubber tube
system in Figure 1.1 was taken in 2019 and was being used to record speeds in a
country lane in Worcestershire due to residents’ concerns over speeds.
Despite the shortcomings of tube detectors they are still very much used in the
non-motorway trunk road network as they provide a cheap, low-tech, temporary
solution where absolute accuracy is not required.
Before the widespread use of inductive loop detectors at traffic lights, pneumatic
strips were used set into steel formers at the stop line to determine the presence of
vehicles.

1.5.3 Inductive loops

Inductive loops work in the same way as mine detectors and essentially comprise
three components; a loop of wire buried in the road surface which starts and ends at
the same point, a cable from the ends of the loop to the roadside and a detector
housed in a roadside cabinet. The induced current in the target object is in the
opposite phase to that in the detector and suppresses the current in the detector by a
small but measurable amount. Further details can be found in [8].
A slot is cut in the road surface, with a specific shape and dimensions
depending on the particular application and what sort of vehicle is to be detected.
Typical loop shapes include square, rectangular, chevron and diagonal.
 Road traffic data collection 11

A set number of turns of wire, defined by the application and detector technology,
are wound in the slot in the road surface. The road surface is then made good with pitch
which also makes a waterproof seal for the loop. The ends of the loop are returned to
the side of the road via a long slot which, on multilane carriageways, will involve
cutting the slot across lanes to join between the loop and the roadside cabinet.
Inside the cabinet there is a detector for each lane, although the detector circuit
board cards can contain a number of channels, one for each lane. The detectors feed a
current into the loop at a frequency so that the loop resonates (typically 20–80 kHz).
A vehicle passing over the loop changes the field around the loop, so it resonates
at a higher frequency; the closer the vehicle is to the road surface the greater the
increase in frequency. This change of frequency is detected, indicating the presence
of a vehicle.
A single loop installation can determine the occupancy, i.e. how much time a
vehicle is over a loop, due to either its speed or length. The speed of a vehicle can be
determined using two loops (from when it ‘fires’ the first loop to when it ‘fires’ the
second loop). It is also possible to obtain the number of axels on a vehicle, but it is not
always straightforward as the metallic bulk of a vehicle can mask the presence of
axels. Classification by length is possible by combining the speed of a vehicle with
the length of time the vehicle is present over the loop.
Inductive loop sets can be unidirectional or bidirectional in the same way as
the rubber tube versions.
The power requirement for loops and detectors is relatively low and they are
often powered by solar cells and batteries. The communication via mobile cellular
radio is often the largest consumer of power and is often only powered when
communication needs to take place to download data.
Installing inductive loops is a skilled and disruptive activity. Lanes, and in the
case of multilane carriageways the whole carriageway, have to be closed to allow
the sawing of slots into the surface and bringing the loop tails back to the side of the
road. On single lane roads the tails of both carriageways are generally brought to a
cabinet on one side of the carriageway only.
Being in the road surface, loops are generally reliable and the detectors are self-
tuning so little day to day maintenance is required. However, the loops are vulnerable
when there are roadworks and resurfacing works, which causes a problem when they
have to be recut. Experience in hot climates, for example, in Hong Kong, is that loops
are vulnerable when the road surface softens in the heat and is rucked up by buses
braking at a junction. Additionally, they do not work well where there is a lot of metal
in the surrounding infrastructure such as bridges, flyovers and reinforced
concrete roads.
Inductive loops can be used for historical data collection for offline analysis and
in real time for traffic control in systems such as SCOOT [7] or single sets of isolated
demand dependant signals. Inductive loops are used in the MIDAS (Motorway
Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling) motorway warning systems [9], but
they are gradually being phased out in favour of side fire RADAR/LIDAR which are
less disruptive to the road surface and where there is power readily available.
12 Collection and delivery of traffic and travel information

It is possible, using signal-processing techniques on the change in inductance

from an individual loop, to obtain an estimate of speed without the need for a
second loop as discussed in [10].
It is likely that inductive loops will be in general use for many years due to
their low power consumption which means that they can be solar powered, making
them feasible where there is no nearby mains power, and the certainty of the
detection zone.

1.5.4 Piezoelectric and fibre-optic

Piezoelectric sensors can be placed across the carriageway that detect minor deflections
in the road surface. When the sensor is stressed due to the road surface deflection it
creates a very small current that can be detected. The amount of current is proportional
to the deflection of the pavement and so that piezo-electric sensor can be used for axel
detection and weight in motion applications [11]. Although not necessarily important for
traffic and travel information services, piezoelectric sensors are part of the traffic
engineers’ armoury. Similarly, fibre-optic sensors have been used to detect the presence
of vehicle axles where small distortions cause a change in scattering and reflection
within the optical fibres.

1.5.5 Magnetometers
The main problem with inductive loops is the disruption to road traffic caused by
their installation and maintenance. Magnetometer systems can alleviate this problem
[12]. Magnetometers work by detecting the change in the earth’s magnetism caused
by metal objects passing by.
Magnetometers can be sourced that are around 150 mm diameter and 150 mm
height that can be installed by removing a core from the road surface and placing the
magnetometer in the resulting hole and then asphalt or pitch filled in to make the
surface level. The magnetometers are battery powered and can last up to 8 years;
they transmit their signal to the roadside cabinet by radio. The detection area of the
magnetometer is relatively stable and definable so that they can be used instead of
inductive loops.
Installation of magnetometer detectors is quicker and simpler than sawing slots in
the road surface for loop detectors. A core drill mounted on the back of a moving lane
closure vehicle can remove a core in a matter of a few minutes, the magnetometer
placed in the hole and the surface made good. As there is no slot cutting needed to take
a lead to the roadside only the lane being installed is affected.
Disadvantages of magnetometers are their expense and the lifetime of the
battery. The cabinet also needs mains power to enable the receivers.

1.5.6 RADAR
Previous sections describe the benefits and disbenefits of road surface detection
technology. A way of overcoming the installation and maintenance issues is to use
technology remote from the road surface. Highways England are introducing Side
Fire RADAR mounted on poles at the side of the carriageway that can detect
 Road traffic data collection 13

vehicles in each lane with sufficient detail to fulfil the data needs for MIDAS [9]
and the Controlled Motorway systems.
Radio detection and ranging (RADAR) technology was first applied to traffic
sensing during the 1980s when advances in solid state technology allowed compact
and affordable devices to be made, suitable for detecting the presence of traffic at
signal junctions. These devices use ‘continuous wave’ (CW) radar to detect the shift in
frequency between an emitted signal at a known frequency and the reflection of that
signal from a moving object, a phenomenon known as Doppler shift. The technology
can be calibrated so that the device can measure the speed of the object based on the
magnitude of the shift. The direction of the shift can be used to discriminate between
objects moving towards or away from the detector. Calibrated CW radars are used in
some speed enforcement systems.
The limitation with CW radars is that an object will not be detected unless it is
moving and so the distance to a target object cannot be determined. These problems
can be overcome by the use of ‘modulated’ radar beams. Instead of using a con-
tinuous wave at a single fixed frequency, the emitted signal frequency can be
changed continuously according to a predetermined configuration. This is called
frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar as shown in Figure 1.2. The
technique compares the frequency of a returned signal with the frequency being
transmitted at that time. Because the rate of change of the emitted frequency is
known, the difference between it and the return signal is proportional to the time
taken for the signal to reach the target and return. The speed of the signal is the
speed of light and hence the range to the target can be determined from:
Target range ¼ 1=2ððF2  F1 ÞcÞ=R
Frequency

F2

F1

Slope = R
Target

Time
Time F1
returns

Transmitted signal
Return signal

Figure 1.2 Frequency–time graph for FMCW radar

14 Collection and delivery of traffic and travel information

where
F1 ¼ Return signal frequency
F2 ¼ Transmit frequency at time return frequency F1 is detected
R ¼ Rate of change of transmitted frequency
c ¼ Speed of light
Division by two is needed because time of flight is to target and back.
RADAR uses the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum and FMCW
devices typically operate in the 18–26 GHz (also known as K-band) region. An
individual device will operate in a narrow segment of this, for example the
Wavetronix HD device operates in the range 24.0–24.25 GHz.
Doppler (CW) radars need to be mounted so that the beam is along the traffic
stream as it is the movement of the vehicles that is important. If such a radar is
mounted looking across the traffic it will not be able to reliably detect vehicles as
the movement component along the radar beam will be very small. This is not the
case or FMCW radars, as targets can be identified whether or not they are moving
and so the device can face in any direction. Furthermore, because the range of the
target is known, those targets at similar distances can be grouped together and a set
of detection ‘zones’ can be set up. Thus, an FMCW radar mounted at the side of the
road with its detection beam at right angles to the traffic can have a detection zone
for each lane and this single device can monitor multiple lanes of traffic. As the
radar beam is orthogonal to the traffic the Doppler effect cannot be used to monitor
speed. If two beams are placed in parallel a known distance apart the speed can be
determined by the arrival time of a target in each beam. This is analogous to the
method used to measure speed by inductive loops.
A typical ‘side fire’ arrangement is shown in Figure 1.3. A device is mounted
4–6 m above the ground and a similar distance back from road edge looking

Operating frequency
24.0–24.25 GHz (K-band)

Potential for
tall vehicles to
mask lower
vehicles in
other lanes Single device
covers multiple
lanes.

Need to avoid
multi-path
reflections from
metallic fixed
structures, e.g.
Gantries

Figure 1.3 Typical arrangement for ‘side-fire’ FMCW radar

 Road traffic data collection 15

orthogonal to the direction of the traffic. The advances in radar electronics mean
that the pair of radar beams can be enclosed in a single, compact housing easily
mounted on a lighting column or its own pole. Such a device can monitor multiple
lanes, enough to monitor both carriageways of a dual 4- or 5-lane highway from
one side.
The data output from the device is the same type of traffic data produced by
inductive loops. Therefore, this data can be fed directly into most incident and
queue detection algorithms that are based on such data analysis.
Radars are very tolerant of poor weather and are only affected by extremely
heavy rain or snow. They are vulnerable to electromagnetic interference from other
devices transmitting in the same frequency range. The quality of the data can be
affected by large vehicles nearer to the device obscuring smaller vehicles further
away. This problem becomes more severe with increased traffic density and with
increased flows of tall heavy goods vehicles or buses in the lanes nearest the device.
Radars are also subject to multi-path reflections where the radar has reflected from
multiple surfaces. These can create false targets in the detection zones.
Radars can be difficult to align and vibration or thermal effects in the mounting
can shift the beam direction such that detection zones temporarily include fixed
objects (e.g. safety barriers) that create false detections for as long as the beam is
out of alignment.

1.5.7 LiDAR
LiDAR uses pulse-encoded laser light to measure the distance from the emitting
device to any reflective surface. Unlike radar, the beam is very narrow in both
vertical and horizontal directions. Devices usually comprise a number of emission–
detection pairs mounted vertically. These can either be fixed or mounted on a
rotating platform to provide a swept area of detection. The output from the sensing
is referred to as a ‘point cloud’ which is a set of data points where each point is
defined by a vector of horizontal angle, azimuth, range and reflected intensity.
These devices have many applications including traffic measurement and are per-
haps best known as part for their use in Google Streetview and Google-automated
vehicles. They have been used for highly accurate counting and classification in toll
booths and, in principle, could be deployed to provide target tracking and incident
detection.

1.5.8 Validation of traffic data from loop sites

How does the traffic engineer know that a detector site is counting and classifying
accurately? The reality is that it is impossible to know unless one counted
manually at the site 24/7 to ensure that the counts were accurate at all times of
day and climatic conditions. In general, loops either fail and give no count or
produce a count that is unfeasibly high (e.g. well over 1,800 vehicles per hour
per lane).
But it is useful to know that the site is producing sensible results, particularly
after maintenance has taken place, where it is not uncommon that loop pairs can be
16 Collection and delivery of traffic and travel information

crossed over, giving erroneous readings or readings for the wrong lane. It is also
more common than one would imagine for there to be confusion in the naming of
detector sites so that the outstation identifier is wrongly paired with the identifier at
the instation. In some cases, it was discovered that outstations were on a completely
different road to that recorded at the instation.
Traditionally, to check the accuracy of flow data, a video recording of the
traffic has been made and a manual count made of the vehicles passing a reporting
point. The counts are then compared with the flow data so that the accuracy of the
data can be assessed. However, there are well over 6,000 reporting points on the
Highways England network alone, so checking accuracy in this manner would take
a very long time and, given that the majority of data are accurate, would be
extremely inefficient. An additional problem associated with video assessment is
the possibility of manual counting errors. These could result in an accurate site
being assessed as inaccurate and vice versa. Where a site is initially assessed as
inaccurate, the counts can be re-checked to eliminate the errors. However, if an
inaccurate site is assessed as accurate, it is unlikely to be rechecked and therefore
the inaccuracy will never be detected, unless it is selected as part of a future random
sample.
In the late 2000s, CAVEMAN – Continuous Assessment of Validation Equations
by Monitoring the Agency Network – was developed at the then NTCC (National
Traffic Control Centre) at Quinton, UK.
CAVEMAN was based on the Long-term Integration Process (LIP), derived
from Kirchhoff’s law for electric current. In the case of traffic data, the currents are
vehicle flows at upstream and downstream Reporting Points. The implication of this
is that if the upstream and downstream flows are different, there must be either an
unknown sink into which vehicles disappear or an unknown source from which
vehicles can join the road. By integrating the flows over a long period of time and
taking an average, the difference between the two should be extremely small. Where
significant differences exist, one or more of the flows must be inaccurate. Where it is
not possible to measure the entry and exit flows at unmonitored junctions, opposite
flows can be compared (e.g. northbound and southbound are assumed to have equal
flows). A small number of exceptions exist (notable amongst these is the Severn
Bridge, where a toll was charged (at the time) to cross into Wales but not in the
opposite direction). Once such a location is known and its effect quantified, it can be
used in the same way as before but using the required factor to compare the
opposite flows.
The network is divided into junction sets. There is some variation in the con-
figuration of the junction sets, depending on the road type. The most common type
of junction set is the Motorway grade-separated junction. An example is shown in
Figure 1.4.
The flow at Link 1 is compared with the sum of those at Links 6 and 7, with the
sum of the flows at Links 2 and 4 and with the flow at Link 12. These are known as
validation equations. If all agree within a defined limit of accuracy, then all can be
regarded as accurate. If they all disagree, the flow on Link 1 is inaccurate. If one is
wrong and the others are correct, the flow on Link 1 is almost certainly accurate
 Road traffic data collection 17

7 4 5 9
6 1 2 3 8

17 18 12 14 11 10 15
13 16

Figure 1.4 Typical junction set

and the inaccuracy will be in one of the other flows. All the comparisons can be
verified against each other.
The concept of ‘continuous assessment’ was developed to allow an automatic
measure of delivered service level on the English strategic road network. Previous
to the introduction of CAVEMAN, the service level had been assessed on a
monthly basis by using video survey results and using a statistical method. The
single criterion was (and still is) that the product of the percentage of all reported
data accurate to within defined levels of tolerance and the overall availability must
be greater than 95%. For example, if 98% of all reported data were accurate to
within the defined levels of tolerance, in order to meet the criterion, the overall
availability of data must be 97%. The main disadvantages of the video survey
method, apart from the cost, is that it depends on the ability of individuals to count
and classify vehicles and it only considered a 2-h snapshot within the month. The
consequence of the snapshot is that a data report that is in error for a short period of
time is either reported as totally bad or totally good, depending on the timing of the
snapshot.
CAVEMAN calculates the accuracy for each data report on a daily basis by
applying each validation equation to the whole of the data from the previous seven
days – this period has been determined as the optimum time span for validating
traffic flows using the LIP validation model. This allows a total assessment to be
made for every data report for the entire month. A great advantage of this is that
every error that occurs will be reported, but only for the duration of the error. Daily,
weekly and monthly reports of errors are generated, so that when errors occur they
can quickly either be corrected or be marked as unavailable until repairs can be
made. CAVEMAN has now been accepted by Highways England as the prescribed
method for assessing service level for traffic flow data.
CAVEMAN validation equations define conditions where the net flow described
by a validation calculation is zero.
The following is an example showing the derivation of a validation equation for
a typical node in the project network.
Figure 1.5 shows a representation of three links joining at a single node.
If a, b and c represent the vehicle flow rate on the links, the test criteria are
aþbc¼0
18 Collection and delivery of traffic and travel information

a b c

Figure 1.5 Links joining a single node

The measure of the variance from the test condition is

jðaT þ bT  cT Þj
Errð%Þ ¼ 2   100
aT þ bT þ cT
This is used in the CAVEMAN model to calculate errors associated with
unclassified (i.e. total) flows. Flow accuracy validation is also required for classi-
fied flows, where vehicles are divided into two length classifications: short vehicles
less than 6.6 m in length and long vehicles greater than 6.6 m in length.
The traffic monitoring equipment categorises counted vehicles by length and
supplies the count information in four categories. These four categories are used to
identify vehicles as short (category 1 þ category 2) and long (category 3 þ category 4).
The Caveman model uses a similar error calculation to test for the accuracy of
classified flows:
jðas þ bs  cs Þj þ jðal þ bl  cl Þj
Errð%Þ ¼ 2   100
ðaT þ bT þ cT Þ
where as, bs and cs are the short vehicle flow rates, al, bl and cl are the long vehicle
flow rates and aT, bT and cT are the total flow rates on each link.
The allowable deviation from the validation criteria before an exception error
is raised is defined by the highway authority’s link categorisation. The UK network
classifies the different roads on the Motorway and Trunk Road network as ‘A’, ‘B’
or ‘C’, according to the importance of the routes. The required accuracy is shown in
Table 1.1 for the three categories.
The CAVEMAN validation equations are designed to test the highway operator’s
acceptance criteria for each reporting point over a seven day period as this is the
optimum time span for validation traffic flows. However, the single day errors are also
used to provide a more granular measure which can be used to monitor step changes in
flows. These errors give an early indication of faults such as equipment failure or
changes to the network. The CAVEMAN criteria for raising exception errors use the
acceptance limits are shown in Table 1.2.
Faults detected by CAVEMAN are:
● Poorly calibrated loop sensitivity results in one or more lanes either not
counting all vehicles or counting vehicles in an adjacent lane
● Poor loop installation which may result in the same effects as poor calibration,
but cannot be corrected without re-installing the loops in the carriageway
● Loop faults resulting in erratic counting, either when flows are low or when the
faults are intermittent
 Road traffic data collection 19

Table 1.1 Accuracy requirements for flow data

Category Allowed error for all traffic flows Allowed error for classified flows
(%) (%)
A 10 15
B 15 23
C 20 30

Table 1.2 Accuracy acceptance criteria for CAVEMAN error calculations

Category Allowed error for all traffic flows Allowed error for classified flows

7-day (%) Single day (%) 7-day (%) Single day (%)
A 5 10 15 20
B 10 20 20 25
C 15 30 25 40

● Equipment faults leading to inconsistent counting

● Incorrect loop configurations leading to traffic being miscounted
● Incorrect site configuration causing data for one site to be extracted from a
different site
● Changes to the network itself – for example, when a two-lane road is reduced
to a single lane or if a bypass is built.

1.5.9 Data from existing control systems

Real-time urban traffic management systems like SCOOT [7] work using an online
link model. As vehicles pass onto a link they are detected, and the model moves
them down the link until they get to the stop line. If the traffic lights are on red, the
vehicle joins a ‘vertical queue’ at the stop line. If the vertical queue at the stop line
is still discharging at a predefined saturation flow, the vehicle joins the back of that
queue; if there is no queue at the stop line and the lights are still green the vehicle
passed through. SCOOT uses all the data from the link to change the splits – the
amount of time allocated to each movement at the junction, the offset of green
times between adjacent junctions and the cycle time – the amount of time to run
through all the stages in the region.
As part of its optimisation, the traffic optimiser calculates for each link the
number of stops and vehicle delay; this data can be collated and ASTRID (auto-
matic SCOOT traffic information database) performs this task [13]. The SCOOT
loops also have an occupancy measure of congestion; if a loop which is at the start
of a link is occupied for more than 4 s then the system flags up that the link is
congested from the stop line to the start of the link.
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 THE PEOPLE AND THE LAWS
WE hold that all the agencies of government belong to the
people, that the Constitution is theirs, and that the courts are theirs.
The people should exercise their power, not to overthrow either the
Constitution or the courts, but to overthrow those who would pervert
them into agents against the popular welfare. We believe that where
a public servant misrepresents the people, the people should have
the right to remove him from office, and that where the legislature
enacts a law which it should not enact or fails to enact a law which it
should enact, the people should have the right on their own initiative
to supply the omission. We do not believe that either power should
be loosely or wantonly used, and we would provide for its exercise in
a way which would make its exercise safe; but the power is
necessary, and it should be provided.
We hold, moreover, with the utmost emphasis, that the people
themselves should have the right to decide for themselves after due
deliberation what laws are to be placed upon the statute-books and
what construction is to be placed upon the constitutions, national
and state, by the courts, so far as concerns all laws for social and
industrial justice. This proposal has nothing whatever to do with any
ordinary case at law. It has nothing to do with the exercise by the
judge of judicial functions, or with his decision in any issue merely
between man and man. It has to do only with the exercise by the
court of political and legislative functions. We believe that it is wise
to continue the American practice of using the courts as a check
upon the legislature in this manner, but only so long as it is possible,
in the event of conflict between the legislature and the court, to call
in as arbiter the people who are the masters of both legislature and
court, and whose own vital interests are at issue. The court and the
legislature alike are the servants of the people, and they are dealing
with the interests of the people; and the people, the masters of
both, have the right to decide between them when their own most
intimate concerns are at stake.
The present process of constitutional amendment is too long, too
cumbrous, and too uncertain to afford an adequate remedy, and,
moreover, after the amendment has been carried, the law must once
more be submitted to the same court which was, perhaps, originally
at fault, in order to decide whether the new law comes within the
amendment. Provision should be made by which, after due
deliberation, the people should be given the right themselves to
decide whether or not a given law passed in the exercise of the
police power for social or industrial betterment and declared by the
court to be unconstitutional, shall, notwithstanding this, become part
of the law of the land. This proposal has caused genuine alarm and
been treated as revolutionary; but opposition to it can proceed only
from complete misunderstanding both of the proposal and of the
needs of the situation. Of course, however, the selfish opposition of
the great corporation lawyers and of their clients is entirely
intelligent; for these men alone are the beneficiaries of the present
reign of hidden, of invisible, government, and they rely primarily on
well-meaning but reactionary courts to thwart the forward
movement.
 NO DIVINE RIGHT OF JUDGES
CONCRETELY to illustrate just what we mean, our assertion is that
the people have the right to decide for themselves whether or not
they desire a workmen’s compensation law, or a law limiting the
number of hours of women in industry, or deciding whether in
unhealthy bakeshops wage-workers shall be employed more than a
certain length of time per day, or providing for the safeguarding of
dangerous machinery, or insisting upon the payment of wages in
cash, or assuming and exercising full power over the conduct of
corporations—the power denied by the court in connection with the
Knight Sugar Case, but finally secured to the people by the decision
in the Northern securities case. Every one of these laws has been
denied to the people, again and again, both by national and by state
judges in various parts of the Union.
We hold emphatically that these matters are not properly matters
for final judicial decision. The judges have no special opportunity
and no special ability to determine the justice or injustice, the
desirability or undesirability, of legislation of such a character.
Indeed, in most cases, although not in all, the judges in the higher
courts are so out of touch with the conditions of life affected by
social and industrial legislation on behalf of the humble that they are
peculiarly unfit to say whether the legislation is wise or the reverse.
Moreover, whether they are fit or unfit, it is not their province to
decide what the people ought or ought not to desire in matters of
this kind. They are not law-makers; they were not elected or
appointed for such purpose. They are not censors of the public in
this matter. We do not purpose to exalt the legislature at their
expense. We do not accept the view so common in other countries
that the legislature should be the supreme source of power. On the
contrary, our experience has been that the legislature is quite as apt
to act unwisely as any other governmental body; and it is because of
this fact that the experiment of so-called commission government in
cities is being so widely tried. We respect the judges, we think that
they are more apt on the whole to be good public servants than any
other men in office; but we as emphatically refuse to subscribe to
the doctrine of the divine right of judges as to the doctrine of the
divine right of kings. We are not specially concerned with the
question as to which of two public servants, the court or the
legislature, shall have the upper hand of the other; but we are vitally
concerned in seeing that the people have the upper hand over both.
Any argument against our position on this point is merely an
argument against democracy.
 THE KEYSTONE OF PROGRESSIVISM
MOREOVER, any professed adherence to our other doctrines, while
at the same time this doctrine is repudiated, means nothing. During
the last forty years the beneficiaries of reaction have found in the
courts their main allies; and this condition, so unfortunate for the
courts, no less than for the people, has been due to our
governmental failure to furnish methods by which an appeal can be
taken directly to the people when, in any such case as the cases I
have above enumerated, there is an issue between the court and the
legislature. It is idle to profess devotion to our Progressive proposals
for social and industrial betterment if at the same time there is
opposition to the one additional proposal by which they can be made
effective. It is useless to advocate the passing of laws for social
justice if we permit these laws to be annulled with impunity by the
courts, or by any one else, after they have been passed. This
proposition is a vital point in the Progressive program.
To sum up, then, our position is, after all, simple. We believe that
the government should concern itself chiefly with the matters that
are of most importance to the average man and average woman,
and that it should be its special province to aid in making the
conditions of life easier for these ordinary men and ordinary women,
who compose the great bulk of our people. To this end we believe
that the people should have direct control over their own
governmental agencies; and that when this control has been
secured, it should be used with resolution, but with sanity and self-
restraint, in the effort to make conditions of life and labor a little
easier, a little fairer and better for the men and women of the nation.

[1] Copyright, 1913, by The Century Co. All rights reserved. The
republication of this article, either in whole or in part, is expressly
prohibited, except through special arrangement with The Century
Co.
 Half-tone plate engraved by C. W. Chadwick
ALPHONSE DAUDET
A PORTRAIT SKETCH, DRAWN FROM THE LIFE, BY JOHN ALEXANDER

⇒
LARGER IMAGE
 “DEY AIN’T NO GHOSTS”
BY ELLIS PARKER BUTLER
Author of “Pigs is Pigs,” “Long Sam ’Takes Out,’” etc.

WITH PICTURES BY CHARLES SARKA

O NCE ’pon a time dey was a li’l’ black boy whut he name was
Mose. An’ whin he come erlong to be ’bout knee-high to a
mewel, he ’gin to git powerful ’fraid ob ghosts, ’ca’se dat am
sure a mighty ghostly location whut he lib’ in, ’ca’se dey’s a
grabeyard in de hollow, an’ a buryin’-ground on de hill, an’ a
cemuntary in betwixt an’ between, an’ dey ain’t nuffin’ but trees
nowhar excipt in de clearin’ by de shanty an’ down de hollow whar
de pumpkin-patch am.
An’ whin de night come’ erlong, dey ain’t no sounds at all whut
kin be heard in dat locality but de rain-doves, whut mourn out, “Oo-
oo-o-o-o!” jes dat trembulous an’ scary, an’ de owls, whut mourn
out, “Whut-whoo-o-o-o!” more trembulous an’ scary dan dat, an’ de
wind, whut mourn out, “You-you-o-o-o!” mos’ scandalous’
trembulous an’ scary ob all. Dat a powerful onpleasant locality for a
li’l’ black boy whut he name was Mose.
’Ca’se dat li’l’ black boy he so specially black he can’t be seen in
de dark at all ’cept by de whites ob he eyes. So whin he go’ outen
de house at night, he ain’t dast shut he eyes, ’ca’se den ain’t nobody
can see him in de least. He jes as invidsible as nuffin’. An’ who know’
but whut a great, big ghost bump right into him ’ca’se it can’t see
him? An’ dat shore w’u’d scare dat li’l’ black boy powerful’ bad, ’ca’se
yever’body knows whut a cold, damp pussonality a ghost is.
 So whin dat li’l’ black Mose go’ outen de shanty at night, he keep’
he eyes wide open, you may be shore. By day he eyes ’bout de size
ob butter-pats, an’ come sundown he eyes ’bout de size ob saucers;
but whin he go’ outen de shanty at night, he eyes am de size ob de
white chiny plate whut set on de mantel; an’ it powerful’ hard to
keep eyes whut am de size oh dat from a-winkin’ an’ a-blinkin’.
So whin Hallowe’en come’ erlong, dat li’l’ black Mose he jes mek’
up he mind he ain’t gwine outen he shack at all. He cogitate’ he
gwine stay right snug in de shack wid he pa an’ he ma, ’ca’se de
rain-doves tek notice dat de ghosts are philanderin’ roun’ de country,
’ca’se dey mourn out, “Oo-oo-o-o-o!” an’ de owls dey mourn out,
“Whut-whoo-o-o-o!” an’ de wind mourn out, “You-you-o-o-o!” De
eyes ob dat li’l’ black Mose dey as big as de white chiny plate whut
set on de mantel by side de clock, an’ de sun jes a-settin’.
So dat all right. Li’l’ black Mose he scrooge’ back in de corner by
de fireplace, an’ he ’low’ he gwine stay dere till he gwine to bed. But
byme-by Sally Ann, whut live’ up de road, draps in, an’ Mistah Sally
Ann, whut is her husban’, he draps in, an’ Zack Badget an’ de school-
teacher whut board’ at Unc’ Silas Diggs’s house drap in, an’ a
powerful lot ob folks drap in. An’ li’l’ black Mose he seen dat gwine
be one s’prise-party, an’ he right down cheerful ’bout dat.
So all dem folks shake dere hands an’ ’low “Howdy,” an’ some ob
dem say: “Why, dere’s li’l’ Mose! Howdy, li’l’ Mose!” An’ he so please’
he jes grin’ an’ grin’, ’ca’se he ain’t reckon whut gwine happen. So
byme-by Sally Ann, whut live up de road, she say’, “Ain’t no sort o’
Hallowe’en lest we got a jack-o’-lantern.” An’ de school-teacher, whut
board at Unc’ Silas Diggs’s house, she ’low’, “Hallowe’en jes no
Hallowe’en at all ’thout we got a jack-o’-lantern.” An’ li’l’ black Mose
he stop’ a-grinnin’, an’ he scrooge’ so far back in de corner he ’mos’
scrooge frough de wall. But dat ain’t no use, ’ca’se he ma say’,
“Mose, go on down to de pumpkin-patch an’ fotch a pumpkin.”
“I ain’t want to go,” say’ li’l’ black Mose.
“Go on erlong wid yo’,” say’ he ma, right commandin’.
“I ain’t want to go,” say’ Mose ag’in.
“Why ain’t yo’ want to go?” he ma ask’.
 Drawn by Charles Sarka
“‘WHUT YO’ WANT TO SAY UNTO ME?’ INQUIRE’ LI’L’ BLACK MOSE”
 “’Ca’se I’s afraid ob de ghosts,” say’ li’l’ black Mose, an’ dat de
particular truth an’ no mistake.
“Dey ain’t no ghosts,” say’ de school-teacher, whut board at Unc’
Silas Diggs’s house, right peart.
“’Ca’se dey ain’t no ghosts,” say’ Zack Badget, whut dat ’fear’d ob
ghosts he ain’t dar’ come to li’l’ black Mose’s house ef de school-
teacher ain’t ercompany him.
“Go ’long wid your ghosts!” say’ li’l’ black Mose’s ma.
“Wha’ yo’ pick up dat nomsense?” say’ he pa. “Dey ain’t no
ghosts.”
An’ dat whut all dat s’prise-party ’low: dey ain’t no ghosts. An’
dey ’low dey mus’ hab a jack-o’-lantern or de fun all sp’iled. So dat
li’l’ black boy whut he name is Mose he done got to fotch a pumpkin
from de pumpkin-patch down de hollow. So he step’ outen de shanty
an’ he stan’ on de door-step twell he get’ he eyes pried open as big
as de bottom ob he ma’s wash-tub, mostly, an’ he say’, “Dey ain’t no
ghosts.” An’ he put’ one foot on de ground, an’ dat was de fust step.
An’ de rain-dove say’, “Oo-oo-o-o-o!”
An’ li’l’ black Mose he tuck anudder step.
An’ de owl mourn’ out, “Whut-whoo-o-o-o!”
An’ li’l’ black Mose he tuck anudder step.
An’ de wind sob’ out, “You-you-o-o-o!”
An’ li’l’ black Mose he tuck one look ober he shoulder, an’ he shut
he eyes so tight dey hurt round de aidges, an’ he pick’ up he foots
an’ run. Yas, sah, he run’ right peart fast. An’ he say’: “Dey ain’t no
ghosts. Dey ain’t no ghosts.” An’ he run’ erlong de paff whut lead’ by
de buryin’-ground on de hill, ’ca’se dey ain’t no fince eround dat
buryin’-ground at all.
No fince; jes de big trees whut de owls an’ de rain-doves sot in
an’ mourn an’ sob, an’ whut de wind sigh an’ cry frough. An’ byme-
by somefin’ jes brush’ li’l’ Mose on de arm, which mek’ him run jes a
bit more faster. An’ byme-by somefin’ jes brush’ li’l’ Mose on de
cheek, which mek’ him run erbout as fast as he can. An’ byme-by
somefin’ grab’ li’l’ Mose by de aidge of he coat, an’ he fight’ an’
struggle’ an’ cry’ out: “Dey ain’t no ghosts. Dey ain’t no ghosts.” An’
dat ain’t nuffin’ but de wild brier whut grab’ him, an’ dat ain’t nuffin’
but de leaf ob a tree whut brush’ he cheek, an’ dat ain’t nuffin’ but
de branch ob a hazel-bush whut brush’ he arm. But he downright
scared jes de same, an’ he ain’t lose no time, ’ca’se de wind an’ de
owls an’ de rain-doves dey signerfy whut ain’t no good. So he scoot’
past dat buryin’-ground whut on de hill, an’ dat cemuntary whut
betwixt an’ between, an’ dat grabeyard in de hollow, twell he come’
to de pumpkin-patch, an’ he rotch’ down an’ tek’ erhold ob de
bestest pumpkin whut in de patch. An’ he right smart scared. He jes
de mostest scared li’l’ black boy whut yever was. He ain’t gwine
open he eyes fo’ nuffin’, ’ca’se de wind go, “You-you-o-o-o!” an’ de
owls go, “Whut-whoo-o-o-o!” an’ de rain-doves go, “Oo-oo-o-o-o!”
He jes speculate’, “Dey ain’t no ghosts,” an’ wish’ he hair don’t
stand on ind dat way. An’ he jes cogitate’, “Dey ain’t no ghosts,” an’
wish’ he goose-pimples don’t rise up dat way. An’ he jes ’low’, “Dey
ain’t no ghosts,” an’ wish’ he backbone ain’t all trembulous wid chills
dat way. So he rotch’ down, an’ he rotch’ down, twell he git’ a good
hold on dat pricklesome stem of dat bestest pumpkin whut in de
patch, an’ he jes yank’ dat stem wid all he might.
“Let loosen my head!” say’ a big voice all on a suddent.
Dat li’l’ black boy whut he name is Mose he jump’ ’most outen he
skin. He open’ he eyes, an’ he ’gin’ to shake like de aspen-tree,
’ca’se whut dat a-standin’ right dar behint him but a ’mendjous big
ghost! Yas, sah, dat de bigges’, whites’ ghost whut yever was. An’ it
ain’t got no head. Ain’t got no head at all! Li’l’ black Mose he jes
drap’ on he knees an’ he beg’ an’ pray’:
“Oh, ’scuse me! ’Scuse me, Mistah Ghost!” he beg’. “Ah ain’t
mean no harm at all.”
 “Whut for you try to take my head?” ask’ de ghost in dat
fearsome voice whut like de damp wind outen de cellar.
“’Scuse me! ’Scuse me!” beg’ li’l’ Mose. “Ah ain’t know dat was
yo’ head, an’ I ain’t know you was dar at all. ’Scuse me!”
“Ah ’scuse you ef you do me dis favor,” say’ de ghost. “Ah got
somefin’ powerful important to say unto you, an’ Ah can’t say hit
’ca’se Ah ain’t got no head; an’ whin Ah ain’t got no head, Ah ain’t
got no mouf, an’ whin Ah ain’t got no mouf, Ah can’t talk at all.”
An’ dat right logical fo’ shore. Can’t nobody talk whin he ain’t got
no mouf, an’ can’t nobody have no mouf whin he ain’t got no head,
an’ whin li’l’ black Mose he look’, he see’ dat ghost ain’t got no head
at all. Nary head.
So de ghost say’:
“Ah come on down yere fo’ to git a pumpkin fo’ a head, an’ Ah
pick’ dat ixact pumpkin whut yo’ gwine tek, an’ Ah don’t like dat one
bit. No, sah. Ah feel like Ah pick yo’ up an’ carry yo’ away, an’
nobody see you no more for yever. But Ah got somefin’ powerful
important to say unto yo’, an’ if yo’ pick up dat pumpkin an’ sot it on
de place whar my head ought to be, Ah let you off dis time, ’ca’se Ah
ain’t been able to talk fo’ so long Ah right hongry to say somefin’.”
So li’l’ black Mose he heft up dat pumpkin, an’ de ghost he bend’
down, an’ li’l’ black Mose he sot dat pumpkin on dat ghostses neck.
An’ right off dat pumpkin head ’gin’ to wink an’ blink like a jack-o’-
lantern, an’ right off dat pumpkin head ’gin’ to glimmer an’ glow
frough de mouf like a jack-o’-lantern, an’ right off dat ghost start’ to
speak. Yas, sah, dass so.
“Whut yo’ want to say unto me?” inquire’ li’l’ black Mose.
“Ah want to tell yo’,” say’ de ghost, “dat yo’ ain’t need yever be
skeered of ghosts, ’ca’se dey ain’t no ghosts.”
An’ whin he say dat, de ghost jes vanish’ away like de smoke in
July. He ain’t even linger round dat locality like de smoke in Yoctober.
He jes dissipate’ outen de air, an’ he gone intirely.
 So li’l’ Mose he grab’ up de nex’ bestest pumpkin an’ he scoot’.
An’ whin he come’ to de grabeyard in de hollow, he goin’ erlong
same as yever, on’y faster, whin he reckon’ he’ll pick up a club in
case he gwine have trouble. An’ he rotch’ down an rotch’ down an’
tek’ hold of a likely appearin’ hunk o’ wood what right dar. An’ whin
he grab’ dat hunk of wood—
“Let loosen my leg!” say’ a big voice all on a suddent.
Dat li’l’ black boy ’most jump’ outen he skin, ’ca’se right dar in de
paff is six ’mendjus big ghostes, an’ de bigges’ ain’t got but one leg.
So li’l’ black Mose jes natchully handed dat hunk of wood to dat
bigges’ ghost, an’ he say’:
“’Scuse me, Mistah Ghost; Ah ain’t know dis your leg.”
An’ whut dem six ghostes do but stand round an’ confabulate?
Yas, sah, dass so. An’ whin dey do so, one say’:
“’Pears like dis a mighty likely li’l’ black boy. Whut we gwine do
fo’ to reward him fo’ politeness?”
An’ anudder say’:
“Tell him whut de truth is ’bout ghostes.”
So de bigges’ ghost he say’:
“Ah gwine tell yo’ somefin’ important whut yever’body don’t
know: Dey ain’t no ghosts.”
An’ whin he say’ dat, de ghostes jes natchully vanish away, an’
li’l’ black Mose he proceed’ up de paff. He so scared he hair jes yank’
at de roots, an’ whin de wind go’, “Oo-oo-o-o-o!” an de owl go’,
“Whut-whoo-o-o-o!” an’ de rain-doves go, “You-you-o-o-o!” he jes
tremble’ an’ shake’. An’ byme-by he come’ to de cemuntary whut
betwixt an’ between, an’ he shore is mighty skeered, ’ca’se dey is a
whole comp’ny of ghostes lined up along de road, an’ he ’low’ he
ain’t gwine spind no more time palaverin’ wid ghostes. So he step’
offen de road fo’ to go round erbout, an’ he step’ on a pine-stump
whut lay right dar.
 “Git offen my chest!” say’ a big voice all on a suddent, ’ca’se dat
stump am been selected by de captain ob de ghostes for to be he
chest, ’ca’se he ain’t got no chest betwixt he shoulders an’ he legs.
An’ li’l’ black Mose he hop’ offen dat stump right peart. Yes, sah;
right peart.
“’Scuse me! ’Scuse me!” dat li’l’ black Mose beg’ an’ plead’, an’ de
ghostes ain’t know whuther to eat him all up or not, ’ca’se he step’
on de boss ghostes’s chest dat a-way. But byme-by they ’low they let
him go ’ca’se dat was an accident, an’ de captain ghost he say’,
“Mose, you Mose, Ah gwine let you off dis time, ’ca’se you ain’t
nuffin’ but a misabul li’l’ tremblin’ nigger; but Ah want you should
remimber one thing mos’ particular’.”
“Ya-yas, sah,” say’ dat li’l’ black boy; “Ah, ’ll remimber. Whut is
dat Ah got to remimber?”
De captain ghost he swell’ up, an’ he swell’ up, twell he as big as
a house, an’ he say’ in a voice whut shake’ de ground:
“Dey ain’t no ghosts.”
So li’l’ black Mose he bound to remimber dat, an’ he rise’ up an’
mek’ a bow, an’ he proceed’ toward home right libely. He do, indeed.
An’ he gwine along jes as fast as he kin, whin he come’ to de
aidge ob de buryin’-ground whut on de hill, an’ right dar he bound to
stop, ’ca’se de kentry round about am so populate’ he ain’t able to
go frough. Yas, sah, seem’ like all de ghostes in de world habin’ a
conferince right dar. Seem’ like all de ghosteses whut yever was am
havin’ a convintion on dat spot. An’ dat li’l’ black Mose so skeered he
jes fall’ down on a’ old log whut dar an’ screech’ an’ moan’. An’ all on
a suddent de log up and spoke:
“Get offen me! Get offen me!” yell’ dat log.
So li’l’ black Mose he git’ offen dat log, an’ no mistake.
An’ soon as he git’ offen de log, de log uprise, an’ li’l’ black Mose
he see’ dat dat log am de king ob all de ghostes. An’ whin de king
uprise, all de congergation crowd round li’l’ black Mose, an’ dey am
about leben millium an’ a few lift over. Yas, sah; dat de reg’lar
annyul Hallowe’en convintion whut li’l’ black Mose interrup’. Right dar
am all de sperits in de world, an’ all de ha’nts in de world, an’ all de
hobgoblins in de world, an’ all de ghouls in de world, an’ all de
spicters in de world, an’ all de ghostes in de world. An’ whin dey see
li’l’ black Mose, dey all gnash dey teef an’ grin’ ’ca’se it gettin’ erlong
toward dey-all’s lunch-time. So de king, whut he name old Skull-an’-
Bones, he step’ on top ob li’l’ Mose’s head, an’ he say’:
“Gin’l’min, de convintion will come to order. De sicretary please
note who is prisint. De firs’ business whut come’ before de
convintion am: whut we gwine do to a li’l’ black boy whut stip’ on de
king an’ maul’ all ober de king an’ treat’ de king dat disrespictful’.”
An’ li’l’ black Mose jes moan’ an’ sob’:
“’Scuse me! ’Scuse me, Mistah King! Ah ain’t mean no harm at
all.”
But nobody ain’t pay no attintion to him at all, ’ca’se yevery one
lookin’ at a monstrous big ha’nt whut name Bloody Bones, whut rose
up an’ spoke.
 Drawn by Charles Sarka
“’YERE’S DE PUMPKIN’”

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LARGER IMAGE

“Your Honor, Mistah King, an’ gin’l’min an’ ladies,” he say’, “dis
am a right bad case ob lazy majesty, ’ca’se de king been step on.
Whin yivery li’l’ black boy whut choose’ gwine wander round at night
an’ stip on de king ob ghostes, it ain’t no time for to palaver, it ain’t
no time for to prevaricate, it ain’t no time for to cogitate, it ain’t no
time do nuffin’ but tell de truth, an’ de whole truth, an’ nuffin’ but de
truth.”
An’ all dem ghostes sicond de motion, an’ dey confabulate out
loud erbout dat, an’ de noise soun’ like de rain-doves goin’, “Oo-oo-
o-o-o!” an’ de owls goin’, “Whut-whoo-o-o-o!” an’ de wind goin’,
“You-you-o-o-o!” So dat risolution am passed unanermous, an’ no
mistake.
So de king ob de ghostes, whut name old Skull-an’-Bones, he
place’ he hand on de head ob li’l’ black Mose, an’ he hand feel like a
wet rag, an’ he say’:
“Dey ain’t no ghosts.”
An’ one ob de hairs whut on de head ob li’l’ black Mose turn’
white.
An’ de monstrous big ha’nt whut he name Bloody Bones he lay
he hand on de head ob li’l’ black Mose, an’ he hand feel like a
toadstool in de cool ob de day, an’ he say’:
“Dey ain’t no ghosts.”
An’ anudder ob de hairs whut on de head ob li’l’ black Mose turn’
white.
 An’ a heejus sperit whut he name Moldy Pa’m place’ he hand on
de head ob li’l’ black Mose, an’ he hand feel like de yunner side ob a
lizard, an’ he say’:
“Dey ain’t no ghosts.”
An’ anudder ob de hairs whut on de head ob li’l’ black Mose turn’
white as snow.
An’ a perticklar bend-up hobgoblin he put’ he hand on de head
ob li’l’ black Mose, an’ he mek’ dat same remark, an’ dat whole
convintion ob ghostes an’ spicters an’ ha’nts an’ yiver’thing, which
am more ’n a millium, pass by so quick dey-all’s hands feel lak de
wind whut blow outen de cellar whin de day am hot, an’ dey-all say,
“Dey ain’t no ghosts.” Yas, sah, dey-all say dem wo’ds so fas’ it soun’
like de wind whin it moan frough de turkentine-trees whut behind de
cider-priss. An’ yivery hair whut on li’l’ black Mose’s head turn’ white.
Dat whut happen’ whin a li’l’ black boy gwine meet a ghost
convintion dat-a-way. Dat’s so he ain’ gwine forgit to remimber dey
ain’t no ghostes. ’Ca’se ef a li’l’ black boy gwine imaginate dey is
ghostes, he gwine be skeered in de dark. An’ dat a foolish thing for
to imaginate.
So prisintly all de ghostes am whiff away, like de fog outen de
holler whin de wind blow’ on it, an’ li’l’ black Mose he ain’ see no
’ca’se for to remain in dat locality no longer. He rotch’ down, an’ he
raise’ up de pumpkin, an’ he perambulate’ right quick to he ma’s
shack, an’ he lift’ up de latch, an’ he open’ de do’, an’ he yenter’ in.
An’ he say’:
“Yere’s de pumpkin.”
An’ he ma an’ he pa, an’ Sally Ann, whut live up de road, an’
Mistah Sally Ann, whut her husban’, an’ Zack Badget, an’ de school-
teacher whut board at Unc’ Silas Diggs’s house, an’ all de powerful
lot of folks whut come to de doin’s, dey all scrooged back in de
cornder ob de shack, ’ca’se Zack Badget he been done tell a ghost-
tale, an’ de rain-doves gwine, “Oo-oo-o-o-o!” an’ de owls am gwine,
“Whut-whoo-o-o-o!” and de wind it gwine, “You-you-o-o-o!” an’
yiver’body powerful skeered. ’Ca’se li’l’ black Mose he come’ a-
fumblin’ an’ a-rattlin’ at de do’ jes whin dat ghost-tale mos’ skeery,
an’ yiver’body gwine imaginate dat he a ghost a-fumblin’ an’ a-
rattlin’ at de do’. Yas, sah. So li’l’ black Mose he turn’ he white head,
an’ he look’ roun’ an’ peer’ roun’, an’ he say’:
“Whut you all skeered fo’?”
’Ca’se ef anybody skeered, he want’ to be skeered, too. Dat’s
natural. But de school-teacher, whut live at Unc’ Silas Diggs’s house,
she say’:
“Fo’ de lan’s sake, we fought you was a ghost!”
So li’l’ black Mose he sort ob sniff an’ he sort ob sneer, an’ he
’low’:
“Huh! dey ain’t no ghosts.”
Den he ma she powerful took back dat li’l’ black Mose he gwine
be so uppetish an’ contrydict folks whut know ’rifmeticks an’
algebricks an’ gin’ral countin’ widout fingers, like de school-teacher
whut board at Unc’ Silas Diggs’s house knows, an’ she say’:
“Huh! whut you know ’bout ghosts, anner ways?”
An’ li’l’ black Mose he jes kinder stan’ on one foot, an’ he jes
kinder suck’ he thumb, an’ he jes kinder ’low’:
“I don’ know nuffin’ erbout ghosts, ’ca’se dey ain’t no ghosts.”
So he pa gwine whop him fo’ tellin’ a fib ’bout dey ain’ no ghosts
whin yiver’body know’ dey is ghosts; but de school-teacher, whut
board at Unc’ Silas Diggs’s house, she tek’ note de hair ob li’l’ black
Mose’s head am plumb white, an’ she tek’ note li’l’ black Mose’s face
am de color ob wood-ash, so she jes retch’ one arm round dat li’l’
black boy, an’ she jes snuggle’ him up, an’ she say’:
“Honey lamb, don’t you be skeered; ain’ nobody gwine hurt you.
How you know dey ain’t no ghosts?”
 An’ li’l’ black Mose he kinder lean’ up ’g’inst de school-teacher
whut board at Unc’ Silas Diggs’s house, an’ he ’low’:
“’Ca’se—’ca’se—’ca’se I met de cap’n ghost, an’ I met de gin’ral
ghost, an’ I met de king ghost, an’ I met all de ghostes whut yiver
was in de whole worl’, an’ yivery ghost say’ de same thing: ’Dey ain’t
no ghosts.’ An’ if de cap’n ghost an’ de gin’ral ghost an’ de king
ghost an’ all de ghostes in de whole worl’ don’ know ef dar am
ghostes, who does?”
“Das right; das right, honey lamb,” say’ de school-teacher. And
she say’: “I been s’picious dey ain’ no ghostes dis long whiles, an’
now I know. Ef all de ghostes say dey ain’ no ghosts, dey ain’ no
ghosts.”
So yiver’body ’low’ dat so ’cep’ Zack Badget, whut been tellin’ de
ghost-tale, an’ he ain’ gwine say “Yis” an’ he ain’ gwine say “No,”
’ca’se he right sweet on de school-teacher; but he know right well he
done seen plinty ghostes in he day. So he boun’ to be sure fust. So
he say’ to li’l’ black Mose:
“’T ain’ likely you met up wid a monstrous big ha’nt what live’
down de lane whut he name Bloody Bones?”
“Yas,” say’ li’l’ black Mose; “I done met up wid him.”
“An’ did old Bloody Bones done tol’ you dey ain’ no ghosts?” say
Zack Badget.
“Yas,” say’ li’l’ black Mose, “he done tell me perzackly dat.”
“Well, if he tol’ you dey ain’t no ghosts,” say’ Zack Badget, “I got
to ’low dey ain’t no ghosts, ’ca’se he ain’ gwine tell no lie erbout it. I
know dat Bloody Bones ghost sence I was a piccaninny, an’ I done
met up wif him a powerful lot o’ times, an’ he ain’ gwine tell no lie
erbout it. Ef dat perticklar ghost say’ dey ain’t no ghosts, dey ain’t
no ghosts.”
So yiver’body say’:
“Das right; dey ain’ no ghosts.”
 An’ dat mek’ li’l’ black Mose feel mighty good, ’ca’se he ain’ lak
ghostes. He reckon’ he gwine be a heap mo’ comfortable in he mind
sence he know’ dey ain’ no ghosts, an’ he reckon’ he ain’ gwine be
skeered of nuffin’ never no more. He ain’ gwine min’ de dark, an’ he
ain’ gwine min’ de rain-doves whut go’, “Oo-oo-o-o-o!” an’ he ain’
gwine min’ de owls whut go’, “Who-whoo-o-o-o!” an’ he ain’ gwine
min’ de wind whut go’, “You-you-o-o-o!” nor nuffin’, nohow. He
gwine be brave as a lion, sence he know’ fo’ sure dey ain’ no ghosts.
So prisintly he ma say’:
“Well, time fo’ a li’l’ black boy whut he name is Mose to be gwine
up de ladder to de loft to bed.”
An’ li’l’ black Mose he ’low’ he gwine wait a bit. He ’low’ he gwine
jes wait a li’l’ bit. He ’low’ he gwine be no trouble at all ef he jes
been let wait twell he ma she gwine up de ladder to de loft to bed,
too. So he ma she say’:
“Git erlong wid yo’! Whut yo’ skeered ob whin dey ain’t no
ghosts?”
An’ li’l’ black Mose he scrooge’, and he twist’, an’ he pucker’ up de
mouf, an’ he rub’ he eyes, an’ prisintly he say’ right low:
“I ain’ skeered ob ghosts whut am, ’ca’se dey ain’ no ghosts.”
“Den whut am yo’ skeered ob?” ask he ma.
“Nuffin’,” say’ de li’l’ black boy whut he name is Mose; “but I jes
feel kinder oneasy ’bout de ghosts whut ain’t.”
Jes lak white folks! Jes lak white folks!
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