Someone is watching
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday October 2, 2009
It takes high technology and skilled staff to stop our roads grinding to a halt. When you're stuck in a traffic jam, it's easy to see Sydney's road system as some kind of ridiculous, anarchic, tangled mess. We get angry that instead of cruising to our destination, we're sitting bumper to bumper with other motorists.But stop and think about it. Sydney is a city of 4 million people who have 2 million cars on the road, not to mention tens of thousands of buses, motorcycles, bicycles and taxis. It's a wonder that in peak times you can get anywhere at all.Part of the reason we don't exist in a permanent state of gridlock is a clever network of cameras, computers and traffic features. When you pull up at a busy intersection, chances are your presence is being noted by sensors that feed a computer that decides how long you should wait for a green signal. In peak hours, the lanes move to open a path for you or shepherd you in the right direction. A small army of controllers monitors traffic flow looking for trouble.But how does it all work?Sydney's traffic nerve centre is the Roads and Traffic Authority's Transport Management Centre (TMC) in Eveleigh, near Redfern. It features a two-storey-high patchwork of video screens flickering with live shots from 700 cameras at intersections statewide.Staff wearing headsets sit in front of banks of computer monitors, alert for signs of traffic congestion and accidents, constantly communicating this real-time information to traffic commanders, emergency patrols, police, tow trucks, websites and radio stations.In its current form, the centre has been operating since the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics, when it was set up to manage the safe transport of spectators, athletes, officials and media. It now manages day-to-day traffic operations as well as more than 200 special events a year, including New Year's Eve celebrations, Mardi Gras Festival, Anzac Day and major sporting events.One of the main reasons traffic doesn't usually grind to a complete halt even when a freak accident occurs is the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS). This controls the speed at which traffic signals change colour at 3600 intersections throughout NSW.Sensors embedded in the road at each intersection record the traffic flow and volume as each car passes over the sensor. This information is sent to a computer, which makes an assessment and then automatically speeds up or slows down the change of the lights to manage and improve the flow.The RTA's traffic information manager, Ken Boys, says staff can override SCATS to create green-light corridors for VIP vehicles.€śWe've used this to transport organs for transplants and for visiting heads of state, especially recently during the APEC summit," he says. The system has been exported to more than 80 cities worldwide.Another tool in the traffic controller's armoury are €śtidal flow systems€ť. These involve changing the number of lanes in each direction along a specific route with motorised, moveable medians, changeable footpaths and overhead lighting and electronic signs.Because many roads have predictable traffic patterns at certain peak hours, Sydney has several of these automated tidal flow systems on routes such as Military Road in Neutral Bay, at Sydenham, Kyeemagh, the M5 East, the Airport Tunnel and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The concept was pioneered on the bridge in the 1940s. Two operators at the transport management centre spend their day monitoring the flow of traffic on these lanes and deciding when to change the traffic direction remotely.The centre also plays a role informing the public and emergency services about incidents that may occur on the roads.A central computer system co-ordinates calls from the public, information from cameras (including a further 500 cameras from local councils and private roads and highways) and police and then determines an appropriate response.For example, it will prompt desk operators who control electronic message signs across the state that they should warn motorists of upcoming congestion and incidents at a particular intersection.These traffic alerts also go to a reporter from the Australian Traffic Network, who then relays it to all the major television and radio networks across the state.There's also a two-way flow of information between the RTA's 10 traffic commanders and seven emergency patrol crews who Boys says are the €śeyes and ears€ť of the command centre on the ground.Nerve centreThe RTA's transport management centre:Has a two-storey network of television screens showing footage from 700 roadside cameras.Co-ordinates traffic on about 180,000 kilometres of road.Controls the speed at which traffic signals change colour at 3600 intersections.Manages more than 200 special events each year.Gets 400,000 calls a year from the public about road incidents.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
