City of Hamilton’s Traffic Management System a Huge Success!

The City of Hamilton, Ontario is growing at a rapid speed. To accommodate the incredible growth their city is experiencing, Hamilton’s Traffic Management System has been given a total upgrade, putting Hamilton on the map as advanced ITS technology users, and has gotten people talking.

City of Hamilton’s Dan Lawlor and Nelson Melendez were awarded the prestigious Fast Track ATMS Award at the 2016 ITS Canada held in Calgary, Alberta.

Starting with the creation of a state of the art Traffic Management Center (TMC), the City has their eyes on traffic, and with the real time data, roads will be safer, traffic will be smoother and incidents will be reduced.

How does the City of Hamilton get real-time video data to those big screens in their TMC?

It’s a powerful combination of innovative products from GridSmart and ENCOM Wireless.

GridSmart intersection related vehicle detection systems and software.

Traffic Operations and Engineering staff conducted a two-year video detection pilot project to test video detection systems from various suppliers currently available on the market. Field testing and data analysis revealed that the GridSmart brand intersection related vehicle detection system is significantly easier to install, less time consuming and have added functions that cannot be found in other competing products. This product’s unique functions/capabilities are essential to the operation of the City’s Traffic Management Centre (TMC). Based on pilot project results staff concluded that the GridSmart intersection related vehicle detection systems and software have unmatched capabilities for intersection stop-bar, left turn set-back and traffic responsive applications within signalized intersections and up to a maximum distance of 85 meters from the intersection’s stop bar.

The GridSmart camera system software also provides a rich set of traffic management features/options which cannot be found in other competing products. The traffic management software provided with GridSmart systems will be a critical component of the City’s future traffic management strategies. The GridSmart  system is also fully compatible with technology and equipment currently used in the City. For these reasons Traffic Operations and Engineering staff recommended that the GridSmart intersection related vehicle detection systems and software be designated as a standard for the City.

Encom wireless radios for backbone communications to and from the intersection

Traffic Operations and Engineering staff conducted a lengthy test of intersection communication with Electromega using Encom wireless radios for their traffic communication needs. The City had previously used an old copper system that had seen significant degradation over time. They could not install a fiber system and were uninterested in cellular modems due to the high monthly operating costs.

The City purchased several Encom radios from Electromega and with Electromega’s expertise installed these radios at intersections that had video detection systems installed. Multiple intersections were interconnected and information from the intersections was brought back to the City’s TMC via a City owned fiber access point in a firehall.

After extensive testing of the Encom radios the City concluded that Encom was by far the best wireless product available on the market. They were very satisfied with the ruggedness of the radio, product warranty and the Stratos software that is used to configure and control the radios.

Electromega distributes and supports Gridsmart and ENCOM systems throughout Canada. For more information on the equipment used in the City of Hamilton, please contact Electromega at central@electromega.com.