As part of a new ITS program set to begin next year, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in Washington, D.C. is planning to coordinate the 150 traffic cameras currently set up at intersections with Traffic Control Officers at intersections, letting them know which roads are clogged and which are free, according to a report on www.WTOPnews.com.
The plan also includes the addition of another 100 cameras over the next two years, the website reported. Although the cameras cannot record, they can zoom in to read things such as license plates.
The District's Traffic Control Officers currently fall under the guidance of the Department of Public Works, but in 2008 they will be transferred to control of DDOT, the website reported.
"We use these cameras for our day-to-day operations, our normal operations. We use it for snow operations. We come here and we can actually see progress. We use it in emergency situations -- if something is happening on the Mall -- if there is an event," Emeka Moneme, director of DDOT, told the website. "But this is now the beginning of our ITS program, initiating a real, robust, intelligent transportation system where we are using technology to help us manage the system."
Other cities around the country, such as New York and Cincinnati, have similar traffic systems, according to the website.
Moneme hopes the changes "will really take us to the top tier in terms of traffic management centers," he told WTOP.
