Tdot Smartway Opens New Control Center
The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has opened its TDOT SmartWay system, which uses 20 electronic message boards, 150 speed sensors, and 56 cameras along 36 miles of Nashville’s interstate highways to form an “intelligent” transportation system and reduce traffic congestion.
Control center operators watch the camera views and use the message boards to inform drivers of problems, and to suggest alternatives. TDOT officials say that the instant feedback should let the department tell law enforcement officials about problems more quickly and improve response time.
The $16 million system is to be expanded to Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Memphis, and is 90 percent federally funded; TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely estimates that the system will add as much as 30 percent to the road system’s capacity and cost far less than widening the pavement.
The camera views are to go up on the TDOT Web site and will be fed to local television stations, and the system will be part of Tennessee’s Amber Alert for missing and abducted children. Nicely says that law enforcement agencies will be linked directly to the system.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Associated Press (06/12/03); Sharp, Tom.