Bentley reports its Blyncsy solution is being used by the Hawaii Department of Transportation in the Eyes on the Road programme to enhance road safety.
Eyes on the Road, an initiative driven by the Hawaii DOT, in partnership with the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s College of Engineering, provides free high-resolution dash cameras to Hawaii residents for installation in their vehicles. The cameras record video automatically as residents drive normally each day.
According to state media reports, around 900 drivers have already signed up. However, 321 more drivers are still needed on the state’s island of Hawaii, 211 on Maui and 101 on Kauai Island. The list of Oahu drivers is now at capacity and signups are closed. Those who signed up will be prioritised by address to ensure island-wide coverage.
The dash cameras are being supplied by Nextbase. The manufacturer’s Nextbase Smart iQ camera is linked to Nextbase.com.
Blyncsy’s collected crowd-sourced imagery captures road-safety issues such as guardrail damage, vegetation encroachment, debris on the road or along the shoulder, and other roadway hazards. The footage is uploaded to the cloud through a cellular connection and then automatically analysed using machine-learning algorithms and advanced AI analytics from Bentley’s Blyncsy, anonymously.
Blyncsy, part of Bentley System’s asset-analytics portfolio, transforms dash-camera footage and other roadway imagery into actionable insights. It automatically detects and reports on the condition of critical transportation assets, enabling transportation agencies to prioritise maintenance, improve safety and make data-driven decisions more efficiently.
In the Eyes on the Road programme, Bentley’s Blyncsy is used to identify and report roadway issues to Hawaii DOT in near-real time, allowing maintenance crews to address and rectify these issues swiftly, ensuring that roads are kept safe for vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians.
“Our crews have been working with Blyncsy to refine the machine-learning algorithms to amplify our efforts to efficiently maintain our transportation infrastructure,” said Ed Sniffen, director of Hawaii DOT. “The Eyes on the Road programme will give us the information we need to get to damaged facilities quickly.”
Mark Pittman, senior director of transportation artificial intelligence at Bentley Systems, said the goal is to give transportation agencies real-time visibility into the state of their roadways. “By combining AI and machine-learning analytics with dash-cam imagery, we are helping Hawaii DOT move from reactive to proactive maintenance to reduce risk, lower costs and save lives.”
According to the University of Hawaii’s website for the Eyes on the Road programme, 21 per cent of all traffic fatalities on the state’s roads are caused by distracted driving. In addition, if a driver’s camera records an instance of reckless driving, road rage or any other unsafe activity on the road, the driver can submit the video clip directly to the local authorities through an app on a cell (mobile) phone.
