Skip to main content

Michigan improves real time traffic information

Michigan’s Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) has revamped its online real-time traffic map, making the congestion-monitoring tool simpler, easier and faster to use. The changes allow users to see congestion levels on county roads across Oakland County, thanks to data provided by RCOC’s Faster and Safer Travel through Traffic Routing and Advanced Controls (Fast-Trac) adaptive traffic-signal system. Fast-Trac detects the volume of traffic moving in each direction at equipped intersections and uses th
June 24, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Michigan’s Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) has revamped its online real-time traffic map, making the congestion-monitoring tool simpler, easier and faster to use.

The changes allow users to see congestion levels on county roads across Oakland County, thanks to data provided by RCOC’s Faster and Safer Travel through Traffic Routing and Advanced Controls (Fast-Trac) adaptive traffic-signal system. Fast-Trac detects the volume of traffic moving in each direction at equipped intersections and uses that data to determine, in real time, the most efficient timing for the traffic signal or corridor.

A cooperative agreement with the 1688 Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) means the map also shows real-time traffic congestion data for MDOT freeways in the county, making it one of the few in the country that shows real-time congestion levels for both local roads and freeways. The map also provides access to MDOT freeway cameras, changeable message signs and construction project information.

“Ours was the first real-time traffic-information map for non-freeway roads in the nation when it was launched in 1999,” observed RCOC chairman Greg Jamian. “We have regularly updated it over the years as the technology has evolved.”

“Not only is our Fast-Trac system improving the safety and efficiency of our road system, it’s also providing useful travel information to motorists,” Jamian said. “This is one of the most advanced traffic signal systems in the country, and the second largest such system in North America. This type of real-time congestion information for non-freeway roads is simply not available in most of the country.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Telematics standards need to evolve to keep up with technology
    July 30, 2012
    Scott Andrews and Scott McCormick take a look at how standards development for the telematics environment needs itself to evolve in order to stay abreast of technological advances. While the road has been somewhat arduous, telematics has evolved from a research activity to a resource for fleet operators, consumers and road management authorities.
  • US adopts automated enforcement… gradually
    March 4, 2014
    The US automated enforcement market is in rude health as the number of systems and applications continues to grow and broaden. Jason Barnes reports. Blessed and cursed – arguably, in equal measure – with a constitution which stresses the right to self-expression and determination, the US has had a harder journey than most to the more widespread use of automated traffic enforcement systems. In some cases, opposition to the concept has been extreme – including the murder of a roadside civil enforcement offici
  • Improving traffic flow with automated urban traffic control
    April 25, 2012
    Alterations to traffic signals and variable message signs are being activated to reduce congestion as soon as it occurs, through a pioneering fully automatic UTC system. Jon Masters reports In the South Yorkshire town of Barnsley in England, strategies for dealing with traffic congestion have been devised from analysis of queue data, then made to work automatically: “This represents the future of ITS for urban traffic control,” says Siemens Consultancy Services senior engineer David Carr. Over a career span
  • Wejo learns from history
    June 20, 2022
    Product which accesses historical travel patterns allows agencies to enable future mobility