Smart Funkwerk traffic management systems for motorways

‘Our video components and comprehensive solutions such as temporarily opening hard shoulders to traffic are crucial elements of this system,’ said Norbert Meissner, managing director of Funkwerk video systeme. His colleague Lutz Otto added, ‘These allow traffic to flow as smoothly as possible even during rush hour and when other bottlenecks form, without having to invest in costly and time-consuming infrastructure such as additional lanes.’

Opening hard shoulders to traffic is a method that has been employed on several sections of motorway in the Frankfurt am Main area since 2019, amounting to around 60 km in total. To provide the necessary video images, the video technicians installed more than 220 Funkwerk Platon pan/tilt camera modules along the motorway, as well as units from the successor Platon NEO series. Analysis and control of the video system take place in several control centres, managed from the VZH traffic control centre for Hesse. The VZH, located at the House of Logistics and Mobility in Frankfurt am Main, is one of the most advanced traffic control centres in Europe and is staffed around the clock. Funkwerk was also responsible for outfitting the control centre systems, with more than 20 video workstations in total.

Because the Hessian traffic control centre will be assuming the role of the national traffic control centre (and thus taking the lead for the regional control centres) for Autobahn GmbH from 1 January 2021, the new national motorway administration, the developers put a lot of emphasis on the future viability and scalability of the video system during its design process.