Skip to main content

California DOT implements smart corridor

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) recently completed a smart corridor project on State Route 12 in Solano, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties, and I-5 in San Joaquin County. The project utilises intelligent transportation system (ITS) technology for five electronic message signs and four closed-circuit TV cameras to provide drivers with up to date travel information, enabling them to choose an alternate route in the event of congestion or roadway incidents.
October 14, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The 923 California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) recently completed a smart corridor project on State Route 12 in Solano, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties, and I-5 in San Joaquin County.

The project utilises intelligent transportation system (ITS) technology for five electronic message signs and four closed-circuit TV cameras to provide drivers with up to date travel information, enabling them to choose an alternate route in the event of congestion or roadway incidents.

"This technology will make these highways safer for everyone and provide motorists real-time information they can use to make smart choices and steer clear of traffic incidents, roadwork, and bad weather," said Caltrans director Malcolm Dougherty.

This project is not Caltrans' first use of ITS technology to create smart corridors. Recent similar projects include a US$80 million project on I-80 in the Bay Area, which will better sync traffic signals with on-ramp meters and computerised highway signs to assist with rush hour traffic once completed; the San Mateo Smart Corridor project, in which ten San Mateo cities have partnered to deliver electronic message signs to guide drivers through detour routes during incidents, sensors to provide traffic volume information, and closed-circuit TV cameras to allow users to see traffic flow; and the creation of QuickMap, an ITS innovation that allows the public to access images from about 1,000 freeway cameras and see messages posted on more than 700 electronic highway message signs.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Will interoperability prevent progress?
    January 10, 2014
    David Crawford examines the political and industrial background to the tolling technology debate. Saving the US State of California ‘millions of dollars’ in tolling infrastructure costs by encouraging new technologies is the professed aim of a legislative Bill, SB 242, which is currently moving through the State’s Senate (upper house) process. According to its sponsor, Republican State Senator Mark Wyland, permitting alternatives to the current FasTrak-branded radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based sys
  • Greenowl brings bespoke traveller information one step closer
    June 4, 2015
    Greenowl’s voice-only congestion warning smartphone app alerts drivers to problems ahead and could be the way ahead for traffic information. If there is one point Matt Man, CEO of Canadian company Greenowl, wants to make clear from the start, it is that his company’s app is not a navigation system. He says: “Our system does not direct drivers to their destination because we mainly focus on commuters who know how to get to where they are going and only need information about any delays and incidents ahead of
  • Estimating winter road recovery time with traffic data
    February 15, 2013
    In Minnesota, US, the most common measure for snow management performance is the time it takes to completely clear a roadway after a snow event ends. Currently, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) relies on visual inspections by its field crews to estimate this bare pavement recovery time. To help MnDOT more accurately and reliably estimate the performance of its snow management activities, researchers from the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) have developed a prototype process that uses
  • Innovative road app delivers real time roads conditions
    March 3, 2015
    The Alberta Motor Association (AMA), IBI Group and GreenOwl Mobile have joined forces to deliver a big leap forward in keeping drivers in Alberta, Canada, informed of traffic issues. The next generation AMA Road Reporter app allows motorists to share their own reports, adding shared real-time road condition and traffic information to the already useful road condition data available. Available to both Android and Apple device users, the app is free and can be used to receive and share immediate, real-time ro