Spotting decoy dummies on the D.C Beltway

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001
654_pf.html
 
Infrared Scans May Regulate HOT Lanes


By Michael Laris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 1, 2007; A01




Are drivers ready to be scanned like groceries at the supermarket?

The answer will help determine whether Washington area commuters use a
planned network of high-occupancy and toll lanes, which will start to take
shape next year when an expansion of the Capital Beltway is to begin.

The lanes are billed as the salvation of the suffering commuter. Solo
drivers will be able to buy their way around congestion, while carpoolers
will ride free. But the lanes' success hinges on finding a way to
differentiate between paying and nonpaying customers without stopping every
vehicle to count heads.

The private companies that will build and operate the Beltway lanes have
proposed using technology that would scan drivers and passengers with bursts
of infrared light that detect human skin. The technology is so sophisticated
that it can distinguish human faces from decoy dummies and shotgun-riding
dogs, according to Ken Daley, a senior vice president at toll road operator
Transurban
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Transurban+Ltd.?tid=informl
ine> , one of two private companies behind the Beltway project.

"It does it by simply measuring the reflectivity of human skin," said Daley,
whose proposal requires the approval of state and federal officials. "I'm
very confident it will be there" on the Capital Beltway.

But already, the idea is raising privacy concerns that could make it
difficult to get government approval.

Aside from a driver's general unease with being scanned, such equipment
raises concerns about possible misuse of images in, say, divorce court or by
insurance companies seeking to increase rates for long-haul commuters, said
Ginger Goodin, an engineer at the Texas Transportation Institute who oversaw
a July study on head-counting for the Federal Highway Administration
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Federal+Highway+Administrat
ion?tid=informline> .

Motorists "feel a sense of privacy in their vehicle, even though they may
not really have it if you look at the legal cases," she said.

...

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