NCDoT uses drones to manage traffic

A drone was initially used to survey a crash near the US 13 and Interstate 95 interchange 
By Ben Spencer March 2, 2022 Read time: 2 mins
The drone can fly up to 150 feet to take video and livestream it to the STOC/regional TMC (© Kantver | Dreamstime.com)

Two North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDoT) departments have combined to deploy tethered drones from select patrol vehicles to assist with overall traffic management during incidents. 

The combination of the statewide Incident Management Assistance Patrol (IMAP) programme and the Division of Aviation's Unmanned Aircraft System programme is expected to provide situational awareness to the NCDoT Statewide Transportation Operations Center (STOC) and Traffic Management centres (TMCs).

State traffic operations engineer Dominic Ciaramitaro says: “Along our interstates, where our IMAP patrols operate, there are gaps in camera coverage, so we don't have perfect situational awareness. Our tethered drones will help us fill those gaps." 

The NCDoT says traffic operations staff traditionally view video feeds at the STOC/TMC through traffic cameras or they receive reports from responders in the field.

According to the department, tethered drones safely offer another method to provide more information in real time, with higher quality video, and for long periods of time. 

The tethered drones will serve as a resource in the toolkit of IMAP trucks, which are equipped with specialised tools to assist stranded motorists or scene management with first responders. The drone can fly up to 150 feet to take video and livestream it to the STOC/regional TMC as well as to emergency management personnel at the incident. 

This information can provide a safer environment for those on scene or approaching an incident and allow the centres to better manage traffic and share more accurate traveller information to the public, the NCDoT adds. 

The IMAP team has two drone systems they will be testing as part of the pilot. In an initial operation, IMAP used a drone to survey a crash near the US 13 and Interstate 95 interchange in Fayetteville where it was in the air for nearly five continuous hours. 

IMAP is supported statewide by NCDoT's Traffic Operations section, which is part of the transportation systems management and operations unit. The Division of Aviation advised and supported the unit with procuring, testing and training of the tethered drone systems as part of its work to expand beneficial drone use across NCDoT. The department's traffic operations section will consider future deployment of tethered drones upon completion of the pilot's evaluation. 
 

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

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Developing ‘next generation’ traffic control centre technology
    July 4, 2012
    The Rijkswaterstaat and Highways Agency have joined forces to investigate what the market can do to realise an idealistic vision for traffic control centre technology. Jon Masters reports One particular seminar session of the Intertraffic show in Amsterdam in March was notably over subscribed. So heavy was the press to attend that your author, making his way over late from another appointment, could not get in and found himself craning over other heads locked outside to overhear what was being said. The
    Read More
  • HDR to bolster Florida’s C/AV efforts
    September 2, 2019
    Engineering firm HDR has been chosen by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDoT) to deploy and evaluate statewide investment in connected and autonomous vehicle (C/AV) technology. HDR will develop a business plan aimed at realising full-scale C/AV deployments. The company says it will also provide programme support, thought leadership and training for FDoT staff. Additionally, HDR is to serve as the prime construction engineering and inspection services consultant for Florida’s Turnpike Enter
    Read More
  • Hertfordshire’s traffic control centre ‘improves congestion’
    March 13, 2013
    As part of a wider Hertfordshire County Council strategy to ease congestion across the county, the council is installing variable message signs to provide live incident information, managed by a centralised control centre at County Hall. The centre opened in October last year at a cost of around US$600,000 and is operated by eighteen staff, who monitor the county’s road network. If an accident occurs, traffic signals can be adjusted and messages displayed in a bid to redirect traffic ease congestion. Mainte
    Read More
  • Debating the future of in-vehicle systems
    December 6, 2012
    Industry experts talk to Jason Barnes about the legislative situation of current and future in-vehicle systems. Articles about technology development can have a tendency to reference Moore’s Law with almost indecent regularity and haste but the fact remains that despite predictions of slow-down or plateauing, the pace remains unrelenting. That juxtaposes with a common tendency within the ITS industry: to concentrate on the technology and assume that much else – legislation, business cases and so on – will m
    Read More

Highlighted Content