Santa Clara light rail calls for Econolite TSP detection

Installations in California will detect transit signal priority calls on four corridors
By David Arminas August 9, 2024 Read time: 2 mins
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's light rail system (image: VTA)

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has contracted Econolite Systems for the installation of equipment to detect transit signal priority (TSP) calls at at-grade light-rail intersections.

The installations are at non-gated intersections along four strategic and heavily travelled corridors - Tasman Drive (north corridor), East San Carlos (south corridor), North Capital Avenue (east corridor) and North 1st Street (west corridor).

Econolite’s field services team are responsible for pole-mounted antennas, cable in existing conduits, lightning suppression units, cable grounding kits, wiring of shelf-mount units and wiring of relay switches.

VTA is a special district responsible for public transit services, congestion management, highway improvement projects and countywide transportation planning for the county in the US state of California.

As the public transit service provider for Santa Clara County, including 15 cities, VTA serves a county with a population of 1.8 million, an annual transit ridership of over 35 million, over 1,200 round trip miles for its bus services and 82 track miles for its light-rail services.

VTA has three light rail lines that use an existing TSP system in active operations and are adding a fourth.

The TSP for the light rail lines is based on embedded detection in the exclusive right-of-way to trigger service calls for TSP. TSP was operational on 97 signalised intersections within the cities of Milpitas, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, as well as the County of Santa Clara on light-rail lines with nearly 100 light-rail vehicles.

Econolite is also in coordination with the cities of San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Milpitas, as well as the County of Santa Clara and Caltrans – California Department of Transportation - for the installation of the intersection equipment along the four corridors.

As part of VTA's TSP detection upgrade project, the new equipment will also provide wireless light-rail vehicle detection that can be used by other local agencies for emergency vehicle preemption.

Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Classification & Data Collection Networking & Communication Systems Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Wi-Fi win-win for mass transit
    October 31, 2014
    David Crawford explores passenger and operator benefits of on-board Wi-Fi Urban commuters’ growing demand for continuous – and reliable - internet connectivity is spurring network operators into the rapid installation of high-grade Wi-Fi access on their surface and underground networks, as well as in their stations. Such moves are often a key part of strategies to maintain and increase ridership levels.
    Read More
  • Virginia presses ahead with tunnels upgrade despite tolls challenge
    July 30, 2013
    David Crawford reviews current developments and legal/financial issues facing tunnel management in Virginia. This autumn the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in the US will defend its plan to introduce tolling on the Elizabeth River tunnels linking the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth in the State’s Hampton Roads area. The tolling, which is due to start from February 2014, will be examined by the State’s Supreme Court later this year. The anticipated toll income, along with loans and bonds, is
    Read More
  • Hard shoulder running aids uniform traffic flow and safer driving
    January 23, 2012
    David Crawford detects a market for European experience. Well-established now in at least three European countries, Hard Shoulder Running (HSR) on motorways is exciting growing interest in the US. A November 2010 Report to Congress by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), on the Efficient Use of Highway Capacity, notes the role of HSR in the European-style Active Traffic Management (ATM) strategies now being recommended for implementation in the US where, until recently, they were virtually unknown.
    Read More
  • Econolite unveils Autoscope OptiVu
    March 20, 2025
    Video detection solution designed for integration into future ITS applications
    Read More

Highlighted Content