I-17 101 traffic interchange

ADOT enhances online camera images as part of operations center upgrade

ADOT enhances online camera images as part of operations center upgrade

February 12, 2013

PHOENIX —The latest upgrade to the Arizona 511 system has gone live, providing a more real-time view of traffic conditions with 10-second updates to camera images online. Through www.az511.gov, drivers can see traffic from 180 cameras throughout the Valley.

The new digital system completes the final phase of a $2.1 million federally funded project that also included an overhaul of the Arizona Department of Transportation Traffic Operations Center. The Traffic Operations Center is the high-tech communication center that dispatches ADOT crews to highway incidents, coordinates with other first responders, and helps safely move motorists around the state and avoid congestion.

Previously, the cameras refreshed online only once every five minutes.

Traffic cameras are used to quickly identify incidents so traffic can be redirected, provide first responders with fast, accurate information, and allow commuters to make more informed decisions on their routes. The cameras are not used for enforcement of traffic laws, and the images are not recorded by ADOT.

ADOT’s first traffic cameras went up along Interstate 10 in 1990. Today, there are more than 200 cameras monitoring the freeways in Phoenix and Tucson. New cameras are continually added. The next cameras to go online will be on the Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway), east of Loop 101.

Road Weather Information System cameras help monitor road and weather conditions in rural Arizona. Limited technology in these remote areas prevents these cameras from being part of the latest digital update, but new cameras have been added to this system to provide drivers with a statewide view of roadway conditions in key locations like Flagstaff and north of Payson.

“Now, the system will help give users a much better, accurate story,” said Darrell Bingham, an information technology manager who led the project. “The benefit to drivers will be more information when they need it the most to avoid congestion and make informed decisions during their commute.”

The www.az511.gov website is Arizona’s portion of the national 511 Travel Information Alert System. Traffic updates are available at www.az511.gov or by dialing 5-1-1 from any phone in Arizona.