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Does anyone know what this thing is?

Started by Scott5114, February 06, 2009, 04:50:28 AM

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Scott5114

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Chris

An ATR probably (Automated Traffic Recorder). It counts traffic on both lanes, I work with a less sophisticated traffic radar with my work (I have to attach it to a lighting pole), but the idea is the same.

Voyager

I see those all the time and have always wondered what they were! Thanks for asking that.
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Scott5114

Hmm. They have them all strung out along I-35 in Norman. I thought they had something to do with the VMSes, since they were each in close proximity to a VMS...
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Chris

^^ Maybe they measure the traffic flow and change VMS'es if necessary. (alternate route or something).

SSOWorld

Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

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roadfro

Yeah, they are ATR's (at least, the white device on top of the pole is).

The Southern Nevada RTC's Freeway & Arterial System of Transportation (FAST) program has been working with Nevada DOT the past few years to instal these devices at ~1/3 mile intervals on I-15 and US 95 in Las Vegas.

What I was told by a manager at FAST was that these devices are more than just count stations.  They can measure flow rate, density, vehicle classification, etc. and do it with a breakdown by lane.  FAST has been using data gathered from these on I-15 to measure the flow rates and determine effectiveness of the ramp meters they activated a few years ago.
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

Alps

You are right and wrong.  No, it's actually a camera, not an ATR.  But that camera can be used to measure traffic volume, speed, density, truck %, etc.  I've been working with a client on whether these could be used to get reliable data of work zone flow rates and capacity, so I'm very familiar with them.  It's up to the particular agency who requests the system to be deployed (usually you get around 4 of them in a particular work zone area) what they want to measure, and it's up to the technology to be reliably off by the same percentage so that it can be easily calibrated with manual counts.
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ComputerGuy




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