交通運輸為一國之命脈，其重要性有如血液循環系統之於人體。許多先進國家每年花費龐大的經費，來改善擴充他們的交通運輸系統。過去各國政府為了因應日益膨脹的運輸需求，而以不斷地擴充硬體設施（如道路，交通工具）的方式來增加運輸的量與能。只是前者的擴充速度總是趕不上後者的增加速度；尤其對於人稠地狹的區域，擴充硬體設備幾乎已是難以施展。於是如何在現有的架構下，以目前已知的科技，如電腦、網路、通訊、控制、以及先進管理等技術，來提升交通運輸的效率、安全與舒適，便成為一個較為務實的目標。
交通監控的目的乃在於蒐集重要路口及路段的交通資料，如車流量、車距、平均車速和加速度、車行方向和軌跡、以及路面佔有率等。這些數據傳回交通控制中心，可以協助交通燈號的控管；傳送給車輛駕駛人，可擬定最佳行車路線；又長期累積的交通資料，可提供道路維修與興建人員規劃設計之參考。此外，交通監控系統也可以用來偵測不尋常的交通事件，如碰撞、故障暫停、違規等。長期對重要交通樞紐的觀察，可瞭解其中的設施、駕駛人的行為、與意外發生之間的關係。諸如此類的應用，可謂不勝枚舉。
稍後將在文中描述本研究之交通監控系統的架構，並以一例子來說明整個架構的流程；其中較重要的部分再討論其細節作法。此外，整個系統發展過程中遭遇到的困難以及因應之道亦會在文中討論。

The importance of the transportation system to a country can be just like that of the blood circulation system to the human body. Many countries have spent a great amount of annual budget for maintaining, improving, and enhancing their transportation systems. It was common in the past that hardware resources (e.g., roads and vehicles) were introduced in order to meet the rapidly increasing requests on transportation. However, the former almost always hardly catches up with the latter. Moreover, introducing hardware equipments could be inadequate for the areas with limited sizes and crowded people. Therefore, under present conditions how to increase the efficacy, safety, and comfortability of transportation systems with the help of currently available high technologies, such as computers, networks, communication, controls, and advance managements may become more practicable.
Traffic monitoring systems collect such data as traffic flows, headways, road occupancies, average car speeds, driving directions and trajectories from main arteries and critical hinges. The collected data would be useful for traffic control centers to manage either manually or automatically traffic signals. Vehicle drivers will be able to plan in advance their routes before leaving for destinations based on the information delivered from traffic control centers. Long-term observed traffic data will provide valuable references for the personnels who maintain and construct roads as well as the researchers who would like to investigate the relationships among transportation equipments, driving behaviors, and accidents at important transit spots. Furthermore, some traffic surveillance systems can detect unusual events (e.g., collisions, breakdowns, and traffic law violations) and afterwards put on record the processes of the events. In the above, we only name a few applications regarding traffic monitoring systems. There are actually more to say with the systems.
In this project, a prototype of traffic surveillance system is proposed. The details of implementing the system are described in depth. We mention the difficulties probably encountered during the development of the system and provide possible solutions to the difficulties as well.

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