I found this video from Streetfilms about L.A.’s traffic control system very fascinating. The video is narrated by Bill J. Shao, a senior engineer at ATSAC Operations which stands for Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control.
He talks about how L.A.’s traffic control system is pretty much completely automated now, with only 1 or 2 personnel required to monitor the computers that do all of the calculations and whatnot in terms of traffic. The computer system automatically gives priority to public transportation and can adjust to almost any type of traffic situation such as accidents and congestion. The entire system is also a great tool for the city of Los Angeles to mine traffic data, as every bit of information that goes through the system gets collected and compiled to show how heavy traffic is and how slow/fast traffic is moving.
I couldn’t embed the video, so you’ll have to watch it here.
