Pressure Sensors / Detectors / Transducers
GridSmart Manages Traffic Congestion from 13 Million Tourists
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Aldis, a leader in next-generation vehicle detection and traffic management systems, announced today that its GridSmart solution is helping to manage traffic congestion along a busy corridor in Sevierville, Tennessee. The City of Sevierville is known as the Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountain Tourism Area which includes Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. One of the top tourism destinations in the United States, the area boasts more than 13 million visitors annually.
Historically, Sevierville had relied on inductive loops for vehicle detection along its main corridor, Highway 66. While the loops worked well, maintenance proved almost impossible given the volume of vehicles travelling this corridor. Further compounding this problem was a construction project to add lanes for additional capacity. The ongoing construction required lane shifts, making the use of loops even less practical.
The lack of detection during the construction was creating traffic issues, as well as manpower and expense concerns for the Police Department. "We had to maintain officers at the lights most of the day for about five days each week," says Police Chief Don Myers. "We were expending a good amount of overtime monies just keeping up with these traffic issues."
The City deployed GridSmart at one of the busiest intersections in the heart of Sevierville and quickly saw the benefit. "There were many benefits that were obvious...the ease of installation, reduction of equipment and cost, the ability to re-draw detection zones anywhere within the camera's 360-degree view to accommodate the lane shifts taking place, and the annual savings that we would realize in maintenance...all of these are definite advantages to the GridSmart approach," says Fortner. "The traffic data available from GridSmart was an added benefit to us, as we are frequently asked for counts for tourism purposes as well as construction planning."
Now, less than one year later, there are seven GridSmart-equipped intersections. Fortner adds, "We have a couple of additional intersections that we want to transition from video detection over to GridSmart." When considering the ongoing maintenance expenses with loops, and the high initial purchase and install costs of traditional video, the City is realizing projected savings between $125,000 - $175,000 over the next ten years by deploying GridSmart at these seven locations. In addition to the projected savings and enhanced functionality, GridSmart has contributed to an 80% reduction in police overtime associated with traffic control, an improvement in travel time through the corridor, the availability of real-time traffic data for better decision making, and reduced hardware on the roadway for better aesthetics in this beautiful tourism area.
"We are extremely pleased that Sevierville is seeing the value inherent in the GridSmart solution," states Brian Shockley, Vice President of Marketing for Aldis. "It's no surprise that cities around the world are seeing similar results and are looking at GridSmart as a maintenance solution to loops and as an attractive alternative to traditional video detection."
About Aldis:
Aldis is a CleanTech company specializing in vision-based technologies for intelligent traffic management and advanced infrastructure solutions. The company provides an efficient traffic management solution, GridSmart, for state and municipal partners to enhance the efficiency of the road network, reduce congestion, and improve air quality. For additional information about Aldis, please visit www.aldiscorp.com or call +1 (866) OK-ALDIS.
SOURCE Aldis
CONTACT:
Brian Shockley of Aldis,
+1-865-622-9217,
brian.shockley@aldiscorp.com
Web Site: www.aldiscorp.com
