The Fargo Forum recently posted an article to their website inforum.com concerning traffic flows in the metro area.  While the article poses several reasons for merging various technologies and enhancing others.   I found the comments to the article to be the most illustrating.  First, here is the article:

Metro traffic project planned

Move to link control of signals, cameras
Fargo-Moorhead officials want to make traffic flow faster and safer on metro roads by integrating control of cameras, traffic sensors and traffic signals, and sharing information among agencies.

By: Helmut Schmidt , INFORUM

Move to link control of signals, cameras

Fargo-Moorhead officials want to make traffic flow faster and safer on metro roads by integrating control of cameras, traffic sensors and traffic signals, and sharing information among agencies.

They’ll likely start with Main Avenue.

Wade Kline, a planner with the Metropolitan Council of Governments, said Friday that Main – which runs through Moorhead, Fargo and West Fargo – would be a great demonstration project for such a system.

Beyond ironing out the technical problems of sharing road data and signal timing, the project could create a road map for agreements between state and local governments and agencies, Kline said.

Because five agencies – the three cities and the Minnesota and North Dakota departments of transportation – exercise control over signals on Main, coordination is tough, said Jeremy Gordon, a Fargo transportation engineer.

“The goal is to take a regional approach, rather than a five-separate-entities approach,” Gordon said.

Kline said the Red River Regional Dispatch Center and the Advanced Traffic Analysis Center at North Dakota State University should also be part of the mix.

The payoff, Kline said, would be:

• Savings on fuel consumption and travel time.

• Increased productivity.

• Reduced pollution.

Dozens of cameras monitor roads and interstates in the metro area, but the video feeds aren’t shared, Gordon and Kline said.

For example, a rollover could occur at Interstate 94 and 45th Street in south Fargo, but because the regional dispatch center can’t view images from monitors there, emergency response may be slower than it could be, Kline said.

He said Fargo has the resources to coordinate and control the system.

Fargo City Engineer Mark Bittner agrees.

“Fargo is very supportive” of the proposal, Bittner said. He said that between the Advanced Traffic Analysis Center and the city, “there’s lots of resources on this side of the river.”

Over time, Kline said he’d also like a north-south corridor created with cameras, sensors and signals linked. He said West Fargo’s Sheyenne Street or Ninth Street East might be good candidates.

Some traffic flow technologies are being tested now on a bus route in north Fargo, Kline said.

Buses use opticon emitters, like emergency vehicles, to query traffic signal controllers. The buses can request an extra 10 or 15 seconds of green light to help them stay on schedule, Kline said.

In the next three years, Kline said he want data and traffic video sharing between local governments and agencies to reach a level that creates virtual traffic control centers.

In time, he’d like to see a regional traffic operations center created, like those in Omaha, Neb., and Denver.

Gordon thinks a full traffic operations center might be possible in three years.

“I think we’re going down that path.”

END ARTICLE

Now one thing I noticed was that the article didn’t seem to mention anything about funding.  First red flag for me.  Now, I might be alone on this, but for one person to drive from say south Fargo to Moorhead takes no more than 15 or 20 minutes.  (I think may even be a little high)  So, I would be curious to learn more about the actual public outrage that exists over commute times in the area.  Like I mentioned earlier, I found the comments posted to be the most interesting…they really show the two extremes in opinion on this issue and most issues at that.  Here are the comments…I will keep them anonymous for our purposes here:

Comment 1:  It will be nice to have all the signals coordinated and timed properly so that all of us don’t have to start and stop at EVERY light all the time.

Comment 2: Big Brother is expanding his grip with this project that will “reach a level that creates virtual traffic control centers”. Phoenix, Az. was recently stunned by revelations that traffic control cameras intalled to detect and ticket speeders recorded all vehicles and driver faces passing the camera, and created a database of all license numbers passing the checkpoints. Steps are being taken to remove these cameras because of citizen outrage.

Can you see the two extremes here?  Both make valid points.  It is true that occassionally we get caught by every single light as we travel E to W in the FM.  And it is true that cameras are being used to track movement and issue tickets, etc.  Surely there must be some middle groud here.  Hear me out, new technology is really fun.  Just think of all the things we can do today with social networks, meetups and video conferencing.  Amazing stuff.  It is even more fun to put a ton of awesome technology together, but we must remember that too much of a good thing can be pretty harmful.  I am certainly no fan of Big brother, and I am no fan of being stopped at a light when no one is coming, but while both sides of the arguement have vaild points, there is no coming together.  I fear that the “my way or the highway “mentality when it comes to local issues is doing what the 50 50 split has done  in our governemnt recently.  It divides and conquers.  Most people probably have no idea that these “convenience creating” technologies have the potential to let big brother in the front door.  On the otherside, just think of the  helpful and practical ways that these technologies could be implemented that could help make our lives easier and more expedient.  It all comes down to how you use it and who controls it.   In order to bring a balanced conversation to the table, we must continue to educate, inform and open our own minds.  That is really the only way, otherwise we will continue to fight with the other 50 percent to the point where all decisions are made  without us.