Square 'boxes' on the road – what happens when we step on them?

Everyone has seen it on the main roads, but few know its usefulness.

The quality of road surface in Greek cities is not the best. Potholes, “spots”, holes from projects left in the middle. But there are also some useful “chunks” in asphalt. Quite a number, actually.

It's about to The “boxes” you can see in the picturesWhich has a square or rectangular shape. Its grooves are so thin that the driver and passengers do not feel any vibration when the car passes over them. But it is visible to the naked eye. The black contoured lines are the sealing material that connects these “pieces” to the asphalt.

What are square boxes?

Firstly, They are called inductive loops (You may also encounter them in the form of magnetic or electromagnetic rings.) They are sensors placed next to each other, in all lanes of the road. Their mission is Recording traffic flow on the road axis.

Sensors record volume and other information about each vehicle that passes through the induction loop: the type of vehicle (e.g., motorcycle, passenger car, truck), when it passed, and at what speed it passed.

Useful data collected by inductive loops is transferred to Traffic Management Center (in the case of Lycanopidae in the Attica region), to be analyzed and evaluated. If for example. The figures show an increase in traffic on the axis, and traffic interventions will be designed, but there is also another benefit.

The times on the letter signs are variable

Depending on the number of vehicles passing through the induction loops, The estimated time it takes the car to reach another point is calculated in the city. This information is then displayed on variable message signs, which are handled by the Attica District Traffic Management Centre.

Traffic density is also determined by cameras on the roads. The travel times estimated by the system are then compared with the actual ones, so that the necessary adjustments are made to the system parameters.

Image credits: Gazeta