38. Traffic Monitoring System in Smart Cities Using Image Processing

The problem of traffic control is rapidly increasing as the number of vehicles is increasing day to day. There are several ways already implemented to control the traffic. These methods include timer-based traffic control and others that uses sensors in order to detect the number of vehicles passing and hence produce signal that cycles. These systems are effective but still there are areas in which the traditional system does not produce effective control over the traffic. We introduce a system for traffic monitoring by implementing image-based control in traffic lights instead of the timer or sensor-based systems. This paper discusses a novel approach toward traffic monitoring that can be applied in smart cities and prevent traffic congestions that may happen due to ineffective traffic signal lights. The image of real-time traffic is captured and edge detection technique is used to find the number of vehicles present at a time at traffic light stops. The edge detected image is compared with a reference image for matching purpose. Calculating the number of vehicles effectively can be used to decide the amount of time given to each side of traffic.