Video Surveillance
Video surveillance reduces traffic
congestion for Georgia DOT
Infrastructure relationship manager
helps maintain and plan expansion of complex
system.
Interstate travel conditions can change in
the blink of an eye. Imagine having access
to traffic patterns, road conditions,
construction projects, estimated trip times
and hazardous weather updates at your
fingertips. Going beyond traditional traffic
reports, the NaviGAtor Intelligent Transport
System (ITS) created by the Georgia
Department of Transportation (GDOT) tracks
conditions along major roadways, local
streets and intersections throughout
Georgia. More than 1.75 million people
receive NaviGAtor alerts to their e-mail,
pagers and/or cell phones to help navigate
around slow or hazardous road conditions.
The ITS has prevented an estimated seven
million hours of incident-related delays,
according to Hugh Colton, ITS projects
manager for the Georgia Department of
Transportation. Eliminating millions of
hours of drive time has saved at least 5.2
million gallons of gasoline and 1.6 million
gallons of diesel, he says, with the
environmental benefit of reducing the amount
of pollutants released into the air. The
system has proven helpful for travel safety,
as well, with 55,000 motorist assists and
more than 340 prevented crashes per year.
The ITS also reduced travel time along
major routes by more than 20 percent. Video
and traffic data is captured from field
equipment feeds positioned along the highway
and transported to the GDOT, local
jurisdictions and the ITS website. Travel
speeds are updated approximately every 20
seconds.
The system is comprised of 1,361
video-detection systems, 350 closed-circuit
TV cameras and 105 changeable message signs,
which caution drivers about various road
conditions, plus radar units, ramp meters
and 20 hub buildings. The ITS uses more than
370 miles of fiber-optic cable to transmit
data throughout the state. Supporting
equipment is disbursed across metro Atlanta.
The system was first deployed in
metropolitan Atlanta in preparation for the
1996 Summer Olympic Games, and has expanded
from a coverage area of 45 miles of freeway
to approximately 180 freeway miles. The
system also continues to expand to help ease
congestion in larger metro areas.
This statewide network was tracked
manually for nearly six years, with the
location of field equipment tracked using
paper drawings, and details of fiber
connections and hubs maintained on
spreadsheets. The use of drawings and
spreadsheets became unmanageable as the
system grew in size and complexity.
Pinpointing the exact location of equipment
became difficult, as did finding and
assigning empty racks, as well as optimizing
space. Entering relevant system data
manually into spreadsheets was time
consuming and left room for human error.
The GDOT deployed Planet IRM from Planet
Associates to record infrastructure data.
Planet IRM then provides GDOT with an
interactive map of the entire system
infrastructure linked to a relational
database. The solution is now the repository
for a diverse range of geospatially enabled
data and information, crucial for system
planning, and has also proven useful to
maintenance workers in the field.
Previously, technicians had little
information before they headed out for a
service call, says Colton. "Technicians may
not always see clearly how things are pieced
together," he explains. "Now they can log
into the network and view relevant
information to help them work more
efficiently."
The system records essential details,
such as location of cameras and how they are
connected, so technicians can view the
physical location and connectivity path back
to the hub before being deployed to a site.
According to Colton, maintenance teams are
confident they have accurate documentation
and have found this useful for reducing
errors during projects and decreasing
incident response times.
Users can obtain a graphic representation
of the entire system and drill down to
individual system components, identifying
empty racks and previously assigned space,
so it is not improperly allocated for future
projects. Vertical elevation rack data
identifies fiber splice trays, fiber
distribution cabinets, video detection boxes
and other equipment.
"I can just go online and view
information graphically or in table form,"
Colton says. "If a cable goes out, we can
see what other fiber is available in the
area. We can highlight any device and click
on it for closer examination. All equipment
is color coded on the screen so it's easy to
glean the information we need."
The department is leveraging Planet IRM's
database in a current project to install 120
ramp meters, (traffic signals which meter
traffic onto expressways) for areas where
fibers are already connected. Planners can
determine which of the 24 to 28 fibers in
each cable are being used and which ones are
available to provide service for the ramp
meters. GDOT is also filling in gaps in its
system, such as installing new changeable
message signs and CCTV cameras along
previously unserved sections of highway.
The department also used the system
information when planning the building of a
new hub. More than 140 pages of Planet
IRM-generated reports were used to ensure
fast and accurate relocation and
reconnection of equipment. According to
Colton, the department found having this
data on hand reduced project costs and
prevented configuration and connectivity
errors. "Today, we can more accurately
evaluate project requests and make
recommendations before investing any new
resources," he says.
For more information from Planet
Associates,
(click here)