The Ministry of Transportation, through the Cross-Israel Company, and in cooperation with the expressway concessionaire and the technology companies partnering in the project, will launch an innovative technological experiment this week at the expressway complex in Shafirim, to test a smart system for verifying and counting passengers in vehicles.
This is a groundbreaking technological pilot to test an innovative system based on artificial intelligence, which will for the first time enable automatic and reliable verification of the number of passengers in a vehicle.
This is one of the main challenges in managing high-occupancy lanes (HOLs) in Israel and around the world, as the ability to accurately and automatically determine how many passengers are in a vehicle is a necessary condition for effective enforcement and operation of such lanes. The success of the experiment could mark a breakthrough on a global scale and bring about a fundamental change in the management, operation, and enforcement of HOLs.
The experiment is designed to test advanced technology based on artificial intelligence (AI) and video processing, which will enable automatic and reliable identification of the number of passengers in a vehicle, without the need to stop at human checkpoints. The system is expected to enable more continuous and faster passage through lanes and improve the user experience.
The technology being tested was developed by COMPIE Technologies and is based on a dedicated application installed on the driver's mobile device. The application performs a smart scan of the vehicle's passengers using the phone's camera and advanced artificial intelligence algorithms, which are able to identify and verify the number of passengers in the vehicle, detect fraud attempts, and cross-reference the data between the start and end of the trip.
Currently, obtaining a toll exemption on the expressway requires stopping to physically count passengers. The innovative solution currently being tested will enable automatic verification of vehicle occupancy and continuous travel without stopping, while maintaining a high level of reliability and effective enforcement capability.
The current experiment is a continuation of an initial pilot conducted in 2024, and is designed to test the maturity of the technology for future implementation on Israel's busiest highways. The experiment will test approximately 1,300 different scenarios, including a wide variety of passenger types, vehicles, lighting conditions and fraud scenarios, with the aim of testing the system's accuracy, reliability and robustness under real-world conditions.
To ensure the reliability of the findings, the experiment is being monitored by the Magal company, which serves as an external and independent control entity.
The results of the trial will be analyzed according to international success metrics, including an accuracy target of over 95% in passenger identification, along with a high ability to identify and thwart fraud attempts. If the trial proves effective, it will form the basis for implementing an innovative solution that will enable a significant expansion of the use of busy routes, shorten travel times, improve service to the public, and contribute to reducing traffic congestion.
Minister of Transportation Miri Regev: "The State of Israel is at the forefront of global transportation innovation. The challenge of automatic and reliable verification of the number of passengers in a vehicle has been preoccupying transportation authorities around the world for many years. If the technology we are testing proves itself, this is a significant breakthrough that will change the rules of the game, enable smarter and more effective enforcement of busy routes, encourage shared travel and help reduce congestion on the roads.""
