I-80 traffic study

[Coyote]

State To Watch Drivers' Habits

The state of Nebraska will soon be studying the driving habits of people cruising down westbound Interstate 80. The state's Department of Roads is preparing a new traffic monitoring system near the interstate's 126th Street exit in Omaha with the goal of keeping travelers informed about possible delays. The study of traffic flow has become an important science as Omaha grows, engineers said, and the new look at drivers' habits will be the most detailed yet.

Roads engineer Steve Garbe said that sensors are mounted on 34-foot poles and in an underground strip that stretches across all six lanes of traffic. Two roadside poles hold microwave sensors. A camera is on the pole atop the overpass. Magnetic sensors are under the road. They all transmit the information back to engineers using a wireless device.

"Those technologies (will) provide us with data on speed, volume and other traffic characteristics to help us manage traffic flows," Garbe said. For worried drivers, project engineers stressed that the system does not measure the speed of individual vehicles and it will not be used by law enforcement.

I was just going to ask people here if they knew what was going on at this location. This is the Cabela's exit. It looks like the cameras are pointed towards the eastbound traffic not the west bound as reported by KETV.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

State To Watch Drivers' Habits

... near the interstate's 126th Street exit in Omaha....

....the 126th Street exit is in La Vista.

[icejammer]

State To Watch Drivers' Habits

... near the interstate's 126th Street exit in Omaha....

....the 126th Street exit is in La Vista.

And near the 126th Street exit is in Omaha...

This sounds pretty interesting, but if they're really serious about monitoring traffic, they would be doing this throughout the interstate system, not just one location.

[Coyote]

Well to be precise - the towers are in Sarpy County, and the three cameras are in Omaha the first at Q St and two more westward well before Harrison - so the actual traffic study is being done in Omaha proper.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

This sounds pretty fun, I can't wait until it's all up and running:

Smoother commute is down road

A new $3 million traffic operations center will open by fall in Omaha, the centerpiece of a high-tech effort to make life easier and safer for drivers in the metro area.

The center will monitor traffic sensors and highway cameras on the Interstate and freeway system in Omaha and on West Dodge Road.

Staff at the center will feed information to drivers through electronic message boards, an Internet map and the state's 511 phone travel line.

Even after the center is open this fall, it could take several months or more until drivers get the full benefits of the technology.

For example, the sensors will initially collect information on traffic volume and speed to establish base line data on normal traffic flow.

Future slowdowns in traffic would be compared with the base line date to calculate the length of the delay.

About a dozen traffic sensors are already operating in the metro area, and the number will grow to more than 50 within the next six months.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2 ... id=2349465

[mcarch]

I drive this route everyday now.  I can tell you this.  Where they placed the cameras... is the worst possible spot ever.  It should have been BEFORE the exit.  If they want to study behavior like... slowing down ON the interstate to hit 45 for the off-ramp, as traffic then backs-up (in the right lane - to a complete halt on most days).  Traffic normally during rush hour after the 126th street exit is free sailing... again except at 144th (not as bad), where yet again people tend to slow down on the interstate so they can go 45 for the off-ramp.

FYI: just for clarification... off ramps are used to slow the car down, most times, there is no need to brake, if designed correctly the car should slow to 45.[/left]

[Adam]

mcarch... It's funny that you mentioned that problem.  I experience the exact same frustration with that exit everyday, too.  That off ramp is long enough that you don't even have to start slowing down until you are about half way up it.  I just wish everyone else understood that like me and you do...  it would really prevent a lot of traffic backup on I-80.

[mcarch]

It also happens on Dodge all the time.  Plus slow people in the fast lane.  I wonder what they teach people in those traffic classes....?  I never took a formal class, and I know what the rules are.  I just don't get how people can be so stupid sometimes.