Light rail vehicle monitoring and stop bar overrun system
A satellite positioning location based control and monitoring system for light rail transit systems which enables transit personnel to track vehicle positions, progress and non-vital signals as light rail vehicles travel through their routes while eliminating the capital and maintenance costs associated with embedded light rail transit monitoring systems.
1. A system for monitoring a vehicle within a traffic grid, the system comprising:
a pre-defined detection zone located in a traffic grid after a stop bar at an intersection;
a vehicle computer unit (VCU) installed in a vehicle having a published schedule;
a central control system remote from said pre-defined detection zone and said vehicle; and
a priority detector installed at said pre-defined detection zone;
wherein if said vehicle is detected by said priority detector within said pre-defined detection zone after said stop bar at an intersection when said stop bar is engaged, said system will determine that a violation has occurred and send an alert to said central control system; and
wherein the central control system will record a log of the violation.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein said log includes information chosen from the group consisting of: date of occurrence, time of occurrence, vehicle identification number, stop bar signal state, vehicle speed, and global satellite positioning strength.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said central control system displays information regarding progression of said vehicle within said traffic grid.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein said pre-defined detection zone is an advanced detection zone, wherein said advanced detection zone is located prior to a scheduled stop on said vehicle's route.
5. The system of claim 4 wherein when said vehicle enters said advanced detection zone, a notification announcement is triggered.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein parameters of said pre-defined detection zone can be modified to account for changing monitoring and tracking needs.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein said vehicle is a mass transit vehicle.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein said vehicle is a light rail vehicle (LRV).
9. A system for monitoring a mass transit vehicle within a traffic grid, the system comprising:
a pre-defined detection zone located in a traffic grid after a stop bar at an intersection;
a vehicle computer unit (VCU) installed in a mass transit vehicle;
a central control system remote from said pre-defined detection zone and said mass transit vehicle; and
a priority detector installed at said pre-defined detection zone;
wherein if said mass transit vehicle is detected by said priority detector within said pre-defined detection zone after said stop bar at an intersection when said stop bar is engaged, said system will determine that a violation has occurred and send an alert to said central control system; and
wherein the central control system will record a log of the violation.
10. The system of claim 9 wherein said log includes information chosen from the group consisting of: date of occurrence, time of occurrence, vehicle identification number, stop bar signal state, mass transit vehicle speed, and global satellite positioning strength.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein said central control system displays information regarding progression of said vehicle within said traffic grid.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein parameters of said pre-defined detection zone can be modified to account for changing monitoring and tracking needs.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein said mass transit vehicle is a light rail vehicle (LRV).