TESTING ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY OF MAC READERS TO MEASURE ARTERIAL TRAVEL TIMES

摘要

The use of Media Access Control (MAC) Readers for travel time data collection providesrnrelatively accurate and inexpensive way to collect travel time data. In spite of availability ofrnof-the-shelf commercial MAC Readers many research institutions are developing and testingrntheir own devices, mostly for research purposes. This study presents and evaluates such arnresearch-driven MAC Reader developed at Florida Atlantic University. The studyrninvestigates the impact of multiple factors that could possibly affect the readings from MACrnReaders such as location of the Bluetooth devices within vehicle, approaching speed ofrnvehicles with Bluetooth devices, location of the MAC Readers with respect to position of thernintersection, and the type of antennae. The results indicate that MAC Readers resemble travelrntimes which are collected by other methods in arterial networks. Other findings show thatrnBluetooth devices placed in the vehicle’s dashboard are detected more easily than thosernplaced in the driver’s pocket; vehicles traveling at lower speeds are detected more reliablyrnthan fast-moving cars; and Omni-directional antenna was more successful in detecting than arnunidirectional antenna.