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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