{"id":168678,"date":"2025-03-18T18:30:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T18:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/portlander-creates-ai-powered-device-to-monitor-street-health\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T18:30:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T18:30:11","slug":"portlander-creates-ai-powered-device-to-monitor-street-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/portlander-creates-ai-powered-device-to-monitor-street-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Portlander creates AI-powered device to monitor street health"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Traffic Monitor and LED display perched above Matt Zajack\u2019s garage on NE 26th Avenue. (Photos and video: Jonathan Maus\/BikePortland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

If you ride on NE 26th Avenue and Wasco, you might have noticed a small square box with a camera lens peering out onto the street. The box is attached to a garage and accompanied by a small LED display that shows the number of bikes, pedestrians, and cars that have gone by. This isn\u2019t just a trivial weekend project by a garage tinkerer, it\u2019s the result of years of development by a data expert who thinks his creation can revolutionize urban planning and kickstart a new era of people-powered advocacy for healthier cities.<\/p>\n

The device is the work of Matt Zajack, a Sullivan\u2019s Gulch resident and data analytics consultant who\u2019s about to launch his new product into the world. Zajack\u2019s Traffic Monitor<\/a> is an, \u201copen source roadway object detection and radar speed monitoring,\u201d device made from simple and widely available components. It uses a wide-angle camera, a very small (Raspberry Pi) computer, and machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) code<\/a> to watch for objects in the street and then tallies what it sees in a database and presents the information in an easy-to-read display. Add a few sensors \u2014 for things like air quality, temperature, and doppler radar to measure speed \u2014 and you\u2019ve got a trove of useful data in a small package that can be deployed almost anywhere.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI am talking about capturing the picture of the roadway biome. Trying to get people to think about: How healthy is your street environment? Does it encourage, promote, support human movement? How can it adapt to changing conditions and environments?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Matt Zajack, Traffic Monitor<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

I first met Zajack and learned about this project in January 2024 when he signed up for a 15-minute slot in my weekly office hours. I was so intrigued, I encouraged him to bring the device to Bike Happy Hour. The night he showed up, I recall many people being amazed by it and a curious crowd that had gathered around him. Since then, Zajack has continued to develop the product and now that it\u2019s nearly ready for prime-time, I rolled over to his garage on Monday for a closer look.<\/p>\n

As a 3-D printer whirred in the background, I learned more about Zajack and his vision for the Traffic Monitor.<\/p>\n

\u201cA couple of years ago, I realized there are a lot of organizations, like Bike Loud PDX and others, who were looking to measure the impact of the programs they were doing, and also argue against a lot of the the sparse data that was out there that was only really provided by municipalities,\u201d Zajack shared. \u201cA lot of the only solutions for traffic monitoring cameras are from private companies doing implementations that cost tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars that can really only be used by municipalities and very large companies.\u201d That\u2019s when Zajack, who wants to use \u201cAI for good\u201d (according to his consulting website<\/a>), realized, \u201cWe can do these things for a lot cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Matt Zajack<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

These \u201cthings\u201d include a number of valuable use cases. Consider a neighborhood association that\u2019s worried about cut through traffic or speeding on a street. They see traffic calming as a remedy, but need to make their case to the Portland Bureau of Transportation and\/or their city councilors. The most important part of that case is often data: Can the neighbors prove people are speeding? Can they prove there are more cars on the street then PBOT guidelines call for? If you\u2019ve ever tried to get that data using City of Portland\u2019s existing sources, you know how frustrating that can be. If they have traffic counts at all, they\u2019ll only be cars and they might not be in the precise location you need or they might be many years old. Want bike counts? You\u2019d have to convince PBOT to set out a pneumatic hose counter. Want pedestrian counts? Forget about it.<\/p>\n

Zajack says his primary selling point is that data from a Traffic Monitor will be much more robust than anything currently available, it will provide recent data, and it you can move it to any location you want (thanks to 3-D printed cases with tripod mounts).<\/p>\n

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