KiTraffic by Kistler has announced that it has officially been approved for use by the Czech Metrology Institute (CMI) to help prevent road damage.
The system is based on the Weigh In Motion (WIM) technology from Kistler and allows the tracking and fining of overloaded trucks. The solution is already in use on a highway leading from Prague to the Northwest, with the potential to be used across the Czech Republic.
Weigh In Motion (WIM) systems for direct enforcement are a convenient alternative to mobile scales for local and national authorities looking to fine weight limit violations. Kistler now offers authorities a complete high-speed WIM system that draws on the company’s decade-long experience in the field of measurement technology.
“We have been providing sensors for direct enforcement WIM systems in both the Czech Republic and Hungary for several years now”, Tomas Pospisek, Global Market Development Manager for Road & Traffic EMEA at Kistler Group, stated. “Combined with our expertise in collecting and analysing data from the sensors, our practical experience has allowed us to build a system that is very precise. All its components are streamlined and work really well together.”
The high-speed WIM system KiTraffic by Kistler is comprised of Lineas brand quartz sensors integrated into the road, cameras, hardware and software. Fining overloaded trucks is made easy by weighing every passing truck. If it exceeds the weight limit, the KiTraffic system sends the exact weight and a photograph of the vehicle, including its license plate, to the authorities’ office. Employees can then research the owner in a national database and print a standard letter to fine the owner. During the instalment of the new system on the highway, local authorities’ employees benefitted from Kistler’s experience. The experts conducted on-site training sessions on how to best use the equipment and how to make minor repairs to the system, such as repairing cracks in the road surface.
Kistler first installed the system with the system integrator and Kistler partner SPEL on a brand-new section of the highway D7 in the Czech Republic. In December 2018, CMI visited Kistler and SPEL at the new site in order to witness the accuracy of the WIM system at first hand. The team first weighed vehicles from categories B (a VW transporter), C (a six-axle truck) and D (a bus) on stationary scales and then in motion via the high-speed WIM system. The maximum error margin permitted by CMI is 5% per vehicle and 11% per axle – a test the Kistler system passed without problems. “This error margin is factored in by the system to make sure no vehicle is fined incorrectly”, Pospisek explained.
Now that the system has been approved officially, the WIM station for direct weight enforcement on the D7 highway is ready for action. But it does not end there as plans to open 15 WIM stations on Czech highways have already been put forward. There is also a lot of potential on regional roads, which are often damaged by overloaded trucks travelling short distances. Kistler is already working on system approval in other countries. So far, direct enforcement via WIM is legal in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia, which means that there are many more opportunities for the reliable and easy-to-use system.
