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Traffic cameras udot1/24/2024 There also are sensors mounted on poles near the road that fire infrared energy on a surface, allowing personnel to gauge how much light ice and snow reflect back from the ground. Traditional setups involve atmospheric sensors mounted on a structure near the road that communicate with ground-level sensors called “pucks” embedded in nearby pavement that read the temperature on the road. UDOT’s weather sensor network comprises various types of units. The same statewide fiber-optic network that supports data transmission from cameras and sensors to the traffic operations center also supports data transfer from roadway weather information system sensors. “They can use that after a major ball game or a big Fourth of July celebration to sense what’s happening.” ![]() “They watch congestion develop or dissipate and put messages back out to the public on overhead message signs warning of where congestion might be,” said Blaine Leonard, Utah’s intelligent transportation system program manager. They use their knowledge to notify the public in multiple ways, including variable message signs. They include standing detection cameras, telescopic cameras mounted on top of traffic poles and dome cameras, which sit and move inside of hemispherical glass domes.Ĭamera feeds, along with sensor data, help Utah’s employees make informed assessments about road activity. The cameras, on the other hand, provide visual imagery to traffic control operators. Like this story? If so, subscribe to Government Technology's daily newsletter. The department also has vehicle inductive-loop traffic detectors beneath the pavement that detect vehicles passing over them. Pole-mounted radar sensors shoot microwave beams across lanes, and vehicles that are hit by the beams reflect microwave energy back to the antenna, which is how a computer analyzes changes in speed. UDOT’s radar and loop sensors at intersections feed data to the department’s signal engineers in almost real time. The two types of equipment work together to gather data for the state’s traffic operations center, and then that information is disseminated to the public. Most traffic cameras and sensors are located in the Salt Lake area where about 80 percent of the state’s residents live. ![]() Utah has full-time, in-house weather forecasters at stations dispersed throughout the state, and programs where drivers can call in to report road condition information. “Over the past couple of years, the traveling public has really turned to UDOT as a source, a provider a partner.” “We are very proactive at UDOT,” Miller said. UDOT reaches the public through social media as well, and the cameras, sensors and website information help employees keep citizens informed. This information also is available on a smartphone app for Android and iPhone systems. Users can view photos of current road conditions and data on weather conditions. The public can visit the Utah Department of Transportation’s traffic conditions home page to see the data, and a map with icons depicting the locations where traffic cameras and weather sensors are currently mounted. There are also several weather sensors, about 80 in Miller’s estimation, that deliver weather information to drivers in the same fashion. ![]() UDOT, local news groups and national organizations use this information to communicate traffic information to the public. More than 700 cameras and 1,500 in-road sensors record photos, videos and traffic data on state roads.
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