Evaluation of traffic sign retroreflectivity measurement using mobile LiDAR

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Fugro Roadware is a Mississauga based company specializing in customized roadway infrastructure data collection and processing solutions. Fugro Roadware is internationally known for its innovative and customer-driven Automatic Road Analyzer (ARAN) technology. The ARAN technology was first developed in the mid-1980s. The modular ARAN is a multifunctional vehicle used for road surface data collection, and is currently employed by numerous transportation and infrastructure agencies around the world. The current ARAN system is limited in its ability to detect and assess the quality of retroreflective traffic signs. Retroreflectivity, one of the factors associated with night visibility, is the property of a material to redirect light back towards its source. As the retroreflective properties gradually deteriorate over time, the sign becomes less detectable and legible at night. Therefore, it is critical to keep monitoring the reflective status of signs and maintain their minimum retroreflectivity levels for regularity, warning, and guide signs. The most objective method to maintain traffic sign retroreflectivity is measuring sign retroreflectivity with handheld devices. However, this maintenance method, measuring reflectance with less representative geometry, is labour-intensive, time-consuming and exposes maintenance crews to risk. Thus a more automated, accurate and safer method of sign retroreflectivity measurement is urgently required. Recently Fugro Roadware integrates an emerging mobile lidar (light detection and ranging) scanner with ARAN system, which allows the company to rapidly collect high-density and accurate positioning and reflective intensity data along road corridors. In support of ongoing research and development of ARAN technology, this project aims to investigate the potential of mobile lidar scanners mounted on Fugro Roadware's ARAN system as an alternative measure of sign retroreflectivity, to the traditional sign maintenance process. The outcomes of proposed research will lead to a new development of laser-based analytic service for monitoring traffic sign retroreflectivity for Fugro Roaware.