STC In The News

STC, American Traffic Solutions and Mesa, AZ increase school zone safety with photo radar

TEMPE, AZ - 05/07/2008 - The City of Mesa, AZ has taken school zone safety to the next level by adding photo radar systems from American Traffic Solutions to an existing school zone with solar flashers. In March, 2006 the city installed school flashers and driver feedback radar display units at Rhodes Jr. High located along Baseline Road. Baseline road is an arterial which parallels Superstition Freeway, a major route into the Phoenix metropolitan area. When there are backups during rush hour, commuters sometimes use Baseline Road as an alternative, and drive at near freeway speeds or use dangerous tactics to minimize delays. The posted speed limit on Baseline is 45 mph and drops to 35 mph during school hours.

Since installation of the equipment, studies have shown the average speed of traffic has gone down during the school day. However, data collected from the 3M Driver Feedback (DFB) units shows there are still some vehicles significantly exceeding the speed limit.

School flasher operation is controlled by scheduling software at the city's Traffic Operations Center (TOC). This software sends a paging signal to one of the flashers which serves as the system master. Once the master receives the signal to activate, it sends radio pulses to the other flasher and the two flashers with DFB radar displays. The city requested the photo radar units be equipped with a radio interface so all the equipment is active simultaneously.

STC designed an interface panel similar to those in the slave flasher units on site and devised it to fit inside the photo radar enclosure. To allow motorists an opportunity to correct their behavior, a field-adjustable activation delay was included in the interface panel. This delays the start-up of the photo radar thus avoiding complaints from ticketed motorists about "lack of sufficient warning."

Personnel from both companies were on hand for the installation on May 1st; included were chief engineers Dave D'Amato of American Traffic and Joe Wise of STC. Engineer Tino Rosas led the design and integration effort for Solar Traffic Controls.

Both American Traffic Solutions and STC are Arizona-based companies with innovative solutions and equipment offerings for traffic safety. For more information about American Traffic Solutions visit www.atsol.com.

 

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