The congestion of traffic and the crunch of steel as cars collide will soon drastically change for the better as Provo traffic merges into a new system of real time control, said Provo City Mayor, Lewis Billings.
Four years ago, a new project began in Provo. Cameras began to pepper traffic lights throughout the city. Today, nearly every major intersection is equipped with a camera, said David Graves, Assistant City Engineer in Provo.
'Video detection cameras are being installed which will allow for better coordination of signal timing between adjacent intersections by using real time traffic information,' he added. 'This is currently being developed and will allow the signal timing at each location to be continually monitored and adjusted based on the actual traffic on the streets 24 hours per day.'
The mayor said the changes will take some time, but the benefits of this futuristic technology will change the way that residents of Provo experience driving.
'What we have chosen to do on traffic control is to try to go to a new state-of-the-art technology where we use cameras to detect what's going on at the intersections,' Billings said.
He detailed a complex plan to track traffic flow with the cameras and computer assisted technology that will automatically adjust the lights as needed to give the right of way to the largest group of cars. This real-time modeling of traffic flow is a far cry from the time sequences that currently control the city's intersections.
'The traffic lights in Provo, especially the ones along University Avenue from Center Street to University Parkway, are far too concentrated,' said Emily Bement, a junior from Philadelphia. 'If there are going to be that many lights, they need to be timed better to the point where you don't get stopped every other light.'
The mayor agreed with Bement.
'One of the things that I hate the most is when I'm sitting at a red light and no one is going the other way,' he said. 'That is absolutely unacceptable.'
The benefit of saving time as a result of real time controlled traffic is only part of a larger whole, said Mike Mower, Provo City spokesperson.
'The sooner we can begin synchronizing traffic lights in Provo, the sooner we can begin to save time, gasoline and make driving in Provo more safe,' he said.
Indeed, safety remains a top priority for the mayor, other city officials and residents.
In the past four years, Bement has been in three car accidents in the Provo/Orem area and knows what it is like to be concerned for her personal safety while driving.
'Traffic here is getting worse every year, and it's going to continue to get worse until some actual work is done to make traffic flow more smoothly,' said Bement. 'Provo was not designed with heavy traffic in mind. The city officials need to come to grips with the fact that a major overhaul of Provo's traffic system is needed - not in ten years, not in five, but now.'
Billings, sensing this type of attitude from residents, said he decided to bring the city into the future by implementing the real-time traffic control process.
'One of the things that I campaigned on was that I wanted to use technology to improve the quality of life where we could,' he said.
Real time modeling of traffic, however, remains a thing of the future.
'We want to use technology to allow people to move as efficiently as they can move,' Billings said. 'We're not there yet, but we are a leader. Officials from Chicago have even come out to see what we are doing.'
Further development of technology is needed to ensure a proper marriage between the cameras and real time control of the traffic lights.
'I think you are going to see, over the next 18 months, some further rollout of connectivity to intersections,' Billings said. 'The computers are in, most have the little cameras on top, now it is a matter of getting the two hooked up as we get them hooked up we have to develop the technology and the support systems that will make it all work.'
Images from the cameras are received at the Transportation Traffic Control Center located in the public works building in downtown Provo.
From this site, dispatchers can all in an accident to local authorities, watch over traffic and eventually control the flow of vehicles through the city.
Most of the intersections in Provo are now equipped with cameras, but not with left-hand turning signals. This has caused many residents to voice their opinions on the antiquity of driving in the city.
'In the four years that I've lived in Provo, I've seen more than my share of accidents,' Bement said. 'The majority of them are because of the lack of a left-hand turn signal at the intersection where the accident occurred. Left-hand turn signals would clear out the massive back-up of people unable to turn left because of heavy oncoming traffic. If a backup is to be avoided, then left-hand turn signals are essential.'
However, the mayor explained his reasons for avoiding the implementation of the ever-debated signals.
'Rather than having dedicated left-hand turn lights, where everyone has to sit and wait for the full left-hand turn cycle, which sometimes is needed and sometimes is not needed, I'd like to see us get to a point where we've got an interactive intersection,' he said. 'There are cars coming and going, the systems smart enough to see that no one is coming and so it cycles those waiting to turn left through and then comes back into the normal queue.'
Implementing an interactive intersection would give motorists and pedestrians a more secure traveling experience, Graves said.
'In the past, most of these locations have operated in a fixed time or pre-timed mode without having the ability to adjust to actual pedestrian and vehicle volumes,' he said. 'This project is upgrading these intersections to provide pedestrian lights and buttons as well as video detection at each of these locations, enabling 24 hour traffic control for pedestrians and motorists alike.'
Not all of Provo's intersections are equipped with to the fiber optic system which enables real time control.
'All of downtown is ready, but we're still waiting on some other intersections,' Billings said. 'The new traffic control support system will be up and running by January 2004.'
The scope of the project comes with a hefty price tag and locating the funding for this endeavor has taken resourceful and creative measures, Billings reported.
'Money is tight so we are going to move as fast as we can,' he said. 'Over time there will be enhancements.'
The vision of interactive intersections and real time traffic control does have a deadline, which is fast approaching. Residents, like Bement, said she will believe the results when she sees them. Until then she offered her own solutions for BYU students who are weary of driving.
'If students are afraid to drive in Provo, they should move to an apartment that has a bus stop nearby and take the bus to school,' she said. 'Besides reducing the number of cars on the road, the bus will get students a lot closer to campus than any Y parking lot.'