At the end of last week’s Wake Forest Town Board work session, Engineering Director Joe Guckavan, Chief Information Officer Adam Oates, Town Manager Kip Padgett and Commissioner Adam Wright had an unannounced discussion about a planned and funded but delayed project, NC DOT’s upgrade of all 43 traffic signals in town to ITS, Intelligent Traffic Signals.
Commissioner Wright, who has been working on this project as the Board Liason for the Technology Board, explained what the upgrade will accomplish.
“Currently our light system is “dumb.” Some lights have sensors in the road but most do not. The ITS system upgrade will allow the lights to talk to a central system that can be controlled remotely so traffic patterns can be updated in real time as someone updates it.”
The upgrade will include all the signals on Capital Boulevard from the Neuse River to the Franklin County line and all inside the town limits.
That holdup has now been resolved, Wright said this week, and the first steps in an improved system can get underway.
“The project was supposed to be let in November,” Wright said in an email. “So, any time now I hope we can start this process. If something doesn’t happen soon, I’ll ask our NCGA reps for some oversight.”
Wright also commented on what the future plans for our traffic lights may include:
“The next step after that will be AI lights,” Wright said.” That is, the lights will all talk to each other and a computer will adjust traffic patterns in real time all the time. No need for a human to complicate the process.”
DOT is going to consolidate the upgrade – which include cameras and other changes – in one central office either in DOT’s offices or the City of Raleigh Traffic Center. Raleigh has won awards for its traffic control, allowing traffic to move more quickly on major streets by having a succession of green lights and other accommodations.
In that center, manned 24/7 or on call, the operators will be able to set up and monitor automatic signalization patterns that will allow traffic to move more efficiently in both peak and nonpeak hours. They will also be able to manually override signals to respond to issues like an accident at an intersection.
AI (Artificial Intelligence) is available. Why not fully optimize the upgrade to AI? “DOT does not want to upgrade to AI at this time. If we did that, it’d be on our own. Funding that switch may take some help with federal grant money,” Wright said.
Once the first step of the new system is complete and running, Wake Forest can equip their fire trucks with a system named Opticom that will allow the drivers to change traffic signals to green so they do not have to stop for red lights or use their sirens to stop traffic so they can edge through traffic and intersections. The funds for that have not yet been budgeted. Wake County could also install Opticom on its ambulances for emergency situations.
Wright said the new signals, cameras, and installation will cost about $3.5 million to be paid by DOT.
Asked if Raleigh has AI in its traffic system, Wright said, “No ma’am. Nowhere in NC does. It’s not even that new of a technology. Here is an article from 2016.”
https://sports.yahoo.com/news/ai-traffic-lights-could-shorten-161500375.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALYYP7S7vHLMlJQMbvj2mIUGfUfVRM3JExejAMBpX7K-iwxrda_XrKA2f93dPJBwv7jEix3Pjb6krxVFlMwtN5cIg4zOOmQ9wiJnlDN0z8yluVcIQdPxYD8PRZi8emz2la1UbdjIfwv2rkwJdvkDx9jddlVP0MP1kk9N5hWy6FBs
####
November 5, 2024
Menu
2 Responses
I love the idea. My question is the $3.5 million price tag.
DOT has been underfunded for years so how long will it be before this actually happens?
We were told in 2017 that the US 1 Corridor was funded and DOT has tried to move that money to different projects. That US 1 Corridor Projects still has no timeline of completion that is solid (guesses maybe).
If we have to wait on DOT to fund it, it could be decades before we actually see it.
Having played around with Dall-E, Stable Diffusion, and ChatGPT, I think that a traffic light model that learns from traffic patterns and adjusts itself automatically is an amazing idea.
This is the kind of thinking we need here in WF if we are to manage our traffic and infrastructure needs as the town grows.
Traffic flows like a river wild,
But with AI, it can be tamed and mild.
Green lights shining bright,
No more stopping in the middle of the night.
Optimized routes, no more delays,
Efficient travel, new ways to pave.
Less emissions, less fuel waste,
A better future for the human race.
So let the machines do what they do best,
With AI controlling traffic, we can rest.
Safe travels and smooth roads ahead,
A brighter future, with AI as our lead.