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

  • Effectively tackle vehicle pollution
    January 25, 2012
    In 2008, Italy's first traffic charge named 'Ecopass' was launched in Milan in an attempt to reduce road congestion and pollution levels as well as to boost public transport through the re-investment of the pollution charge revenues.
    Read More
  • 12th ITS Asia-Pacific Forum focuses on cooperation
    March 14, 2012
    In April this year, ITS Malaysia will host the 12th ITS Asia-Pacific Forum and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur to further advance ITS cooperation and coordination between member countries in the region. In 1999, just a year after construction of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers was completed, Kuala Lumpur hosted the 3rd ITS Asia-Pacific Forum. A great deal has changed in the intervening 13 years, not least the scope and importance of the Forum’s programme. The 12th running of this event, being held from 16-18 Ap
    Read More
  • Moxa wayside infrastructure keeps Besançon trams on track
    May 28, 2014
    To ensure reliable communication between tram and track and to enhance passenger comfort and safety on the new 14.5 kilometre tram network in the French city of Besancon, officials opted to use Moxa’s wayside infrastructure network to manage the on-board communication network for video surveillance and passenger information. The wayside infrastructure network was built as a multi-service Ethernet network using Moxa´s managed industrial Gigabit EDS-P510 Ethernet switches equipped with SFP connectors to bu
    Read More
  • Rapid bus lanes coming to San Francisco
    November 21, 2014
    San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is planning the first bus rapid transit (BRT) in the city. The Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project aims to create efficient and more reliable transit service along the Van Ness Avenue corridor, as well as promoting pedestrian safety and accessibility, enhancing the urban design, and strengthening the identity of Van Ness Avenue. The project includes centre-running, dedicated transit-only lanes on Van Ness Avenue from Mission Street to Lombard Str
    Read More

Highlighted Content