Performance Evaluation of the McMaster Incident Detection Algorithm

Abstract

The McMaster incident detection algorithm is being tested on-line within the Burlington freeway traffic management system (FTMS) as an alternative to the existing California-type algorithm currently in place. This paper represents the most recent and comprehensive evaluation of the McMaster algorithm's performance to date. In the past, the algorithm has been tested using single lane detectors for the northbound lanes only. This evaluation uses data from lanes 1 and 2 for each of the 13 northbound and 13 southbound detector stations. The data was collected during a 60-day period beginning on November 15, 1990 and ending January 13, 1991. Detection rate, mean time-lag to detection and false alarm rate are used to evaluate the performance of the algorithm. As well, those factors such as winter precipitation, which influenced the performance of the algorithm are also examined. To improve the algorithm's detection rate and lower its false alarm rate, it is reccomended that the persistence check used to declare an incident be increased by 30-seconds from 2 to 3 periods.