CAMERAS

Video cameras are increasingly being deployed by traffic managers and are an important element in the feedback loop. Caltrans (the California Department of Transportation) has 350 cameras, of a planned 500, installed at the moment along the freeway system in Los Angeles. The City’s own Department of Transportation started installing them at high points all over the city, including the roof of City Hall and Patriotic Hall, and now has over 250, out of a planned 500, all of which are connected to the traffic control center. Though expensive, at almost $100,000 per installation, cameras provide a realtime image of the roadway, often providing visual evidence of the source of slowing at trouble spots of the area. New software enables cameras to be read by computers, counting cars and calculating flow. In this way, cameras are doing the job of loops, especially on bridges and overpasses where loops are more difficult to install.

Watch a video sample of TMC camera monitoring [10MB]