Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), the State of Idaho’s governmental organization responsible for state transportation infrastructure.
ITD has implemented a reliable vehicle detection system at the state’s numerous point-of-entry (POE) stations in order to improve traffic flow, reduce wait times and limit traffic queues.
Managing traffic flow through state point-of-entry stations can be challenging, particularly at stations that experience high levels of semi-truck traffic. At Idaho POE stations, the challenge of large truck traffic volumes has been exacerbated by short entrance ramps and limited visibility from POE station offices. These factors have caused traffic to back up from stations onto the freeway, which has led to safety concerns for truck drivers and the general driving public.
To address these challenges, ITD chose to implement a reliable vehicle detection system that can alert them when backups occur. ITD deployed SmartSensor Advance units 500 feet from station entrance ramps to monitor the speeds of vehicles exiting the freeway. If conditions meet user-defined thresholds, POE personnel can be notified of the backup, and the POE sign can be turned off, effectively closing the station to additional traffic. This prevents other trucks from clogging the ramp and backing up onto the freeway. To make sure the system runs smoothly, ITD also uses video cameras to visually verify conditions.
As a result [of installing SmartSensor Advance], the system has experienced fewer backups, so traffic on the freeway is not impeded; and point-of-entry stations operate more efficiently.
The Wavetronix contributions to the project have helped improve efficiency at POE stations and safety on the freeway: SmartSensor Advance detects vehicles at a greater range than most video detection systems, and is more effective than the single-zone detection offered by loops. As a result, the system has experienced fewer backups, so traffic on the freeway is not impeded; and POE stations operate more efficiently when not overwhelmed by traffic volumes.
