Trafikverket’s role is crucial for delivering a well-functioning transportation system that connects people, businesses and institutions and is a key part of enabling the economic development and social cohesion of the country. One of the administration’s most pressing tasks is to develop sustainable infrastructure; to reduce costs, disruption (i.e. road closures) and environmental impact.

According to Trafikverket, maintaining roads in and around the ever-expanding urban areas of Sweden offers huge challenges. To reach the national goals of smarter mobility, more efficient public transport and increased access to data, technological innovation is crucial. In late 2019, Trafikverket was introduced to Univrses’ Smart City platform 3DAI™ City for the first time. Shortly thereafter, a collaboration was initiated. The aim for the project is to use the platform to address the administration’s pressing need for timely, relevant and actionable data about the urban and roadside environment in real-time.  

Mobile camera units equipped with the 3DAI™ City software are now deployed in some of the Trafikverket vehicles that travel the nation’s roads to monitor and inspect the infrastructure. As these vehicles carry out their everyday tasks, Univrses’ computer vision algorithms process a constant flow of images from the cameras; images of the road surface, the infrastructure around the roads and temporary structures, like roadworks. AI components in the 3DAI™ City extract meaningful data from the images relevant to the successful and smooth functioning of Trafikverket’s operations. Urban and roadside features are detected and mapped. The processed information (made anonymous) is then presented in a simple and interactive dashboard. The data can be used to improve infrastructure management by delivering recent and accurate insights that enable faster deployment of resources, and better decisions to be made.

3DAI™ City is being deployed to detect traffic signs, road works and road damage (such as pot-holes and road cracks). Soon, detection of people at the roadside, and detection of vehicle density along the road will be deployed.

In the weeks to come, Trafikverket will continuously test the system. More roadside data will be delivered and this will provide a more complete understanding of the environment in which Trafikverket must operate. The intention is to gain insight into current and future problems that, when solved, will improve safety whilst saving the organisation time and money.