Traffic Management

A lane that is restricted in its use. Usually this would include lanes for public transit systems, high-occupancy vehicles, or other special classifications of vehicles.

A configuration where transportation and government officials will temporarily shift a freeway or other highway into one-way traffic. Generally contraflow options are available along Interstate highways leading away from coastal areas in the Gulf Coast and Southeastern States during hurricane evacuation situations. Contraflow utilizes temporary slip ramps located within a freeway median to dispurse traffic onto both carriageways. A series of barricades close ramps to opposing traffic while folded signs [...]

Highway reflectors are sometimes referred to as cat's eyes because of the similarity between the reflective nature of the street mounted fixtures and the reflectivity of a cat's eyes when illuminated at night.

A call box is a telephone or communications device located at specific intervals along a highway to connect a motorist in distress with police dispatchers. Call box use declined significantly with the proliferation of cellular telephones, leading to their removal across the majority of the country. Some remain in use in remote areas or on select bridges such as the Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay.

Commonly used as lane markings in areas where snowplows won't rip them off the pavement, botts dots are raised, polished concrete markers with rounded edges that are used to provide lane markings on freeways and surface streets. One benefit of these markers is that they make noise whenever a car crosses into another lane, which allows motorists to hear when they are making a lane change. See Caltrans' Botts Dots [...]

Within California, agricultural inspection stations operate by all major points of entry. These stations are placed to help protect California's agricultural economy by preventing the accidental importation of infested fruits and vegetables from other states, including the Mexican fruit fly and other pests. Florida is another state that utilizes these stations, but only trucks, including rentals, are required to enter the facilities.