Skip to main content

Mobile LiDAR technology used to capture traffic signal data across Pennsylvania

Engineering, planning and consulting services company Michael Baker International recently completed a nearly US$7-million project for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to collect data from more than 8,600 traffic signals across the state. Over a year, the Michael Baker team, working with PennDOT’s Traffic Signal Asset Management System (TSAMS), collected nearly 20 million data fields for each of the 8,623 traffic signals analysed, which populated a centralised database to support Pen
November 30, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Engineering, planning and consulting services company Michael Baker International recently completed a nearly US$7-million project for the 6111 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to collect data from more than 8,600 traffic signals across the state.  Over a year, the Michael Baker team, working with PennDOT’s Traffic Signal Asset Management System (TSAMS), collected nearly 20 million data fields for each of the 8,623 traffic signals analysed, which populated a centralised database to support PennDOT’s future planning, design, maintenance and operational decision making.
 
With the passage of Pennsylvania Act 89 in 2013, PennDOT identified traffic signals as an area of necessary investment and established the Green Light-Go (GLG) program to manage the dedicated traffic signal funding and corresponding maintenance and operations projects

Michael Baker’s fleet of LiDAR-equipped vehicles are capable of surveying an area by measuring the distance to a target by illuminating it with two laser lights, each of which can measure up to 600,000 points per second with a total maximum measurement frequency of 1,200,000 points per second. The firm’s LiDAR equipped vans collected all visible assets to minimise traffic disruption and prevented technicians from working in traffic lanes.
 
Mobile LiDAR equipped vans collected data from exposed traffic signal infrastructure assets, mapping entire intersections in three-dimensional point clouds, while corresponding spherical imagery was collected using a ladybug camera.

Data from traffic signal cabinet assets was collected by field staff using a project-specific iPad mobile application (app). Electronic files of traffic signal records were transferred and attached to the database and pertinent filed paper documents were scanned to retrieve information electronically.

Related Content

  • December 21, 2016
    Michael Baker to provide construction services for Pennsylvania road upgrade project
    In cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Michael Baker International is to provide construction services for the improvement of Freedom Road, a major roadway that connects the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh, Interstate 79 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike to State Route 65 (SR 65). PennDOT recently awarded the company a US$4.9 million contract to provide construction management and inspection services for phases one and two of the multi-year project. As part of the c
  • February 23, 2017
    LiDAR sets its sights on future problems
    AAdvances in LiDAR are helping transport authorities improve services and identify potential problem areas, as geospatial technology expert Dr Neil Slatcher explains. The effects of climate change on the transport infrastructure have long been a cause of concern within the transportation sector - and not only on the structures themselves but also on the surrounding areas. This year, those concerns have become reality with landslides, structural collapses and surfacing issues impacting services across the wo
  • April 14, 2025
    Lidar lets planners see big picture in Chattanooga
    The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is attempting to make its streets safer by using the largest deployment of Lidar-based traffic detection in the US. Adam Hill reports…
  • July 30, 2014
    Queensland to deploy cameras to detect unregistered vehicles
    Queensland, Australia, is to deploy fixed and mobile automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to catch thousands of unregistered cars on the state’s roads. From October, eight fixed and fifteen mobile cameras will scan about 600,000 registration plates every week. The cameras will record thousands of plates a day and send the information back to a centralised database for cross-referencing with registration records. Owners of unregistered plates will automatically receive fines in the mail. P