High-tech cameras aim to solve traffic woes

Las Vegas is finally catching up with the latest technology in traffic control.

Local drivers may have noticed small cameras perched on top of the city's traffic lights and lamp posts. Not to worry, it's not "Big Brother" watching. Instead it is the newest in traffic technology to hit Las Vegas, and with it comes advances in the way traffic is regulated.

Jerry de Camp, system manager for the Las Vegas Area Computerized Traffic System, and his co-workers watch traffic from a variety of new cameras in order to help alleviate congestion in the valley.

One type of camera -- known as an imaging detector -- is installed on top of street lights and scans all four approaches at an intersection. This particular camera can be seen at the intersections of Lake Mead and Rampart boulevards and of Charleston Boulevard and Verdinal Drive.

"There are no human eyes watching these cameras (through monitors)," de Camp said.

The cameras look at the left-turn pocket to determine whether the left-turn arrow should come up depending on the traffic, he said. He said this is not a new traffic-control function, but a new way of monitoring vehicles at an intersection. This technology replaces loop detectors, which did the same thing but were installed underground.

"Loop detectors work fine when they are freshly installed, but as more sites were built, sometimes it ends up in tearing of the wires," de Camp said.

Another kind of camera has raised the eyebrows of some locals, who have been calling de Camp.

"No, it's not a conspiracy theory. 'Big Brother' isn't watching you," he has told worried callers. "No, these cameras don't get used to look into backyards or swimming pools."

For six months, six color-film cameras have been working from the top of select intersections, and 50 are expected to be in use by the end of the year, he said. These cameras zoom in and out on traffic and beam their output to a main control office. Traffic controllers watch monitors to see where congestion is building up and to change the timing of traffic lights when needed.

"The underlying premise is that traffic conditions change, and the sooner the operators are aware of it, the sooner they can make changes and restore the normal pattern," Kurt Weinrich, director of the Regional Transportation Commission, said. "This system is part of a larger effort to make more intelligent use of the streets we have."

One such camera is operating at Tropicana Avenue and Decatur Boulevard. De Camp said he and his co-workers have done some "fancy things" to get the intersection to pack in more cars by making the light longer.

"It has been useful to get information on back-ups earlier than before we had the system. The old way, it's the classic eight in the morning situation: By the time a driver gets to work and calls in the problem and we drive out to that intersection, it's like, "What problem?" Now, if we can look at the problem right then, we can do something about it. It will make us more responsive."

The cameras are part of an overall system upgrade costing about $15.2 million, with at least half going toward the new cameras and system, de Camp said.

Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who also is chairman of the RTC, agrees that this technology is a great asset to the community.

"I think the ability to be flexible and adjust signals at the intersections is the biggest advantage so we can respond much faster. This way, if there is a problem, we can adjust accordingly and get public works out to get some hands-on measures," he said.

The cameras have limited taping capabilities and are currently observed by traffic controllers during the peak weekday hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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