By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

Fort Collins is in the forefront of using Intelligent Transportation Systems and the internet to get real-time local street conditions into the hands of drivers and others.

FCTrip promises to help you “travel smarter” and by deploying a network of sensors and cameras that calculate congestion levels and speeds, the city has brought to the local street level a part of what the Colorado Department of Transportation, through its COTrip site, delivers for Denver metro area freeways.

The system integrates data from those sources to translate traffic data onto the city map. Take a look at it live here. It’s been online for nearly three years.

Britney Sorensen, Fort Collins’ traffic systems engineer, said the project was the brainchild of the city’s former traffic engineer, Eric Bracke, who has moved on to a job for the city of Greeley.

“Eric was instrumental in getting funding for our entire system,” she said. He worked to obtain a grant from CDOT through federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds. This program, pronounced verbally as “See-Mack” for C-M-A-Q, has been a valuable resource for innovation in ITS programs. Use of ITS can help traffic engineers squeeze more use out of existing capacity on the roadway network.

You can read about CDOT’s own efforts using ITS and the travel time savings it has brought starting on page 37 of CDOT’s 2009 Transportation Deficit Report.

As to Fort Collins’ FCTrip, it’s a glimpse into what engineers can do to help drivers make decisions that help relieve congestion. Extending real-time systems like this to regional arterial streets instead of just freeways would be a big help to commuters, delivery drivers and other motorists whose daily travels don’t just consist of freeway driving.

FCTrip reports on traffic along the major north-south and east-west arterials in the city. Although there are still some gaps that can be filled in as money allows, the streets in the program are Mulberry, Prospect, Drake, Horsetooth and Harmony Road, on the east-west axis, and Taft Hill, College, Lemay and Timberline on the north-south.

But the usefulness of FCTrip doesn’t stop at reporting traffic levels on city streets.

The city also overlays the map with camera views, short-term construction and major street projects. The info boxes will bring up data on the nature and duration of the work taking place. It can be amusing if you’re not familiar with road construction terminology, though. When you click on the orange construction cone at Stuart and Welch streets, the “Type of Work” is listed as “Boring.” Many of us have jobs that are boring, but this refers to underground installation of utilities.

The site requires a good working relationship between the city’s Traffic Operations and Management Information Services departments. The operations people install and maintain the equipment that collects and transports the data, while the information services people program and maintain the web site.

“The congestion data comes from two different sources,” Sorensen said. “Video detection and in-pavement sensors. Both types of detection measure traffic volumes, occupancy (length of time the vehicle is present), and speed.

“Currently there are 20 video detection count stations and 20 in-pavement count stations with a total of 120 in-pavement sensors. There are also 18 intersections that use the video detection system to provide vehicle detection to change the traffic signal. These cameras, which are located at the intersection, also provide some count, occupancy and speed data.”

“The video detection system used in the City of Fort Collins is the Econolite Autoscope system, which detects pixilation change caused by vehicles in the image,” Sorensen added. “The cameras for the count stations are mounted approximately 500 feet away from the intersection.

“The in-pavement sensors from Sensys Networks are about the size of a hockey puck and are imbedded in the pavement in epoxy. These wireless sensors detect the change in magnetic field caused by a vehicle to determine traffic volumes, occupancy, and speed.”

The camera images accompanying the map come from the city’s 28 closed-circuit camera system on major arterials.

“The CCTV cameras are controlled by software that takes snapshots every 5 to 10 minutes,” Sorensen said. “These images show multiple directions at each of the locations and are posted on the website.”

Fort Collins’ project cost $447,000. It included installation of 16 closed circuit cameras – the city has 28 total on the arterials – 20 video detection count stations, 20 in-pavement count stations, four servers for video and data processing, and networking equipment to communicate with the detection equipment.

More coverage is on the way.

City permits for roadway construction are used to compile work zone information on the map. The Traffic Operations Department issues these permits, giving it all the information it needs. In addition, information regarding upcoming projects is obtained from the city engineering department and plotted on the map.

“Prior to Mr. Bracke leaving the city, he applied for and was awarded another CMAQ grant to enhance the FCTrip webpage,” Sorensen said. “That project is currently in the design stages and should include 10 additional CCTV cameras and more vehicle detection equipment.”