The Path That Ulit Intelligent Zebra Crossing System Has Taken

--From Flat Road Studs to Four-sided Three-dimensional Road Stud Designs

According to the survey and statistics of the Ministry of Public Security from 2014 to 2016, on average, 86 people die every day from crossing the zebra crossing and 2.6 people die from running red lights in China. Every year, the number of people who die in traffic accidents in China exceeds 100,000, among which 80% are caused by pedestrians' own violations. Pedestrians running red lights is one of the important reasons for traffic accidents in China.

Upon closer examination of the reasons why pedestrians run red lights, apart from subjective factors such as the public's own "herd mentality" and the "Chinese-style crossing" habit of "when there are enough people, the light turns green", objectively, it is also due to the existence of problems such as the chaotic flow of vehicles and pedestrians at intersections, the unscientific setting of traffic light times, the difficulty for traffic police to maintain order alone and so on.

Ulit closely follows the pace of the digital and intelligent era and, at the same time, designs and develops a system project for intelligent zebra crossings in response to specific problems in real life.

The Ulit intelligent zebra crossing system consists of three parts: the front-end system (including zebra crossings with smart light studs at both ends, smart waiting areas that can detect the number of pedestrians, and smart poles), the network transmission system, and the back-end management system. The system detects the number and status of pedestrians in the waiting areas of sidewalks and on zebra crossings in real time, applies multiple intelligent strategies, and adjusts the signal timing scheme in real time. Achieve the greatest degree of harmony between people and vehicles.

Shift from the traditional "vehicle-oriented" approach to taking into account both pedestrians and motor vehicles simultaneously to ensure the maximization of road traffic efficiency. At the same time, it is linked and coordinated with upstream and downstream intersections for control and overflow control to reduce vehicle delays and enhance the driving experience.

The Architecture of Ulit Intelligent Zebra Crossing System

1. Smart Road Studs Installed at Both Ends of the Zebra Crossing

The unique smart road studs designed by Ulit feature synchronized traffic lights for pedestrians and vehicles on all four sides, which emit light at eye level and do not interfere with each other's field of vision. Meanwhile, the pedestrian signals support multiple display modes such as flowing and always on, serving as a significant reminder for the "phubbers" in the city. On foggy, rainy or or low-light conditions, the light strips on the cross-cutting road are conspicuous and obvious, serving as a reminder and guide for both pedestrians and drivers at night. They urge drivers to stop or slow down in time, enhance their awareness of safety and civility, and reduce the frequency of traffic accidents.

• Unique four-sided individually controlled smart road studs;
• Synchronized with traffic lights, the smart road studs emit red lights for drivers and green lights for pedestrians.

2. Proactive and Precise Pedestrian Detection

The intelligent zebra crossing system uses intelligent video algorithms to identify the number of pedestrians in the waiting area, actively detects and collects data such as the number of pedestrians waiting and waiting time, making the data level more abundant and providing a better data foundation for business applications.

3. Adaptive Adjustment of Traffic Light

The system dynamically adjusts the timing scheme of traffic lights based on the number of pedestrians waiting, achieving a pedestrian release mode where the more pedestrians wait, the shorter the waiting time for them. If there are no pedestrians, the system will directly turn all green lights to allow vehicles to proceed, improving traffic efficiency. The system can cope with the fluctuating characteristics of pedestrian flow.

4. Optimal Vehicle and Pedestrian Traffic Efficiency

Intelligent timing control is carried out based on the actual pedestrian flow monitored, and the release time is flexibly configured to maximize the overall benefits of pedestrian crossing facilities. On the basis of enhancing the right of way for pedestrians, the adverse impact on the traffic efficiency of motor vehicles has been minimized as much as possible.

5. Coordination with Upstream and Downstream Intersections

Whenever a pedestrian is triggered, it maintains coordination with the upstream and downstream intersections. Vehicles at the upstream and downstream intersections can almost pass through the pedestrian crossing without stopping. When the queue at the upstream and downstream intersections approaches the intersection, it automatically switches from coordinated control to overflow control.

• Standard Intelligent Zebra Crossing System

At present, Ulit intelligent zebra crossing project has been applied in six locations in Chongqing, including Changjiahui on Nanbin Road in Nan'an District and Fengxi Road in Beibei District. The feedback has been good. In areas with high foot traffic such as Nan'an District, after the installation of intelligent zebra crossings, the previous issues where pedestrians crossed the road at will and there were conflicts between pedestrians and vehicles has been improved, achieving harmony between pedestrians and vehicles. Next, Ulit plans to add three intelligent zebra crossing application projects, innovatively exploring intelligent traffic models to achieve unmanned intelligent management of central sections and reduce traffic accident risks in Chongqing urban areas.

• Integrated intelligent zebra crossing system

Based on the traditional intelligent zebra crossing, Ulit has upgraded and transformed it into a more advantageous and beautiful integrated intelligent zebra crossing system. This product has a simple and elegant appearance, integrating vehicle traffic lights and pedestrian traffic lights, and adding more prominent arc-shaped LED light strips. The color changes with the traffic lights, providing pedestrians and drivers with a clearer and more beautiful visual effect, ensuring traffic safety.

Compared with the standard intelligent zebra crossing system, it has unique advantages:

① It integrates multiple systems in a modular way with a simple and integrated design;

② It can be expand to include the function of capturing pedestrians running red lights to improve the compliance rate of pedestrians;

③ It can be expanded to include crosswalk in-ground lighting facilities to enhance pedestrian guidance.

This project has currently been implemented in Enshi, Hubei Province, achieving good application results. It has received many positive feedbacks from pedestrians and traffic police on this section of the road. Local citizens said, "Before the installation of the intelligent zebra crossing, pedestrians could come and go without regard for traffic lights. When there was a large pedestrian flow, pedestrians would cross the road in an endless stream. Vehicles had to give way for a long time and were disorderly, often causing congestion. With the intelligent zebra crossing, it can not only adjust the passage time according to the number of pedestrian waiting, but also, due to its unique four-sided road stud design, both pedestrians and vehicle drivers can see the corresponding traffic lights from their respective angles. Moreover, from the perspective of us pedestrians, the light of road studs can flash like flow water or remain always on, which is very eye-catching! When crossing the road, I feel much safer, and at the same time, the efficiency of both pedestrian and vehicle passage has been improved."