Ventura County Tackles Speeding with Radar Feedback Signs.
A sprawling county in California addresses resident speeding concerns with radar signs that provide effortless installation and safer streets.
The Challenge
Ventura County is spread along the California central coast with a population of nearly one million in a variety of urban and rural communities. Two of the Channel Islands, including the most visited island in Channel Islands National Park, are located in the county. It is also home to endless stretches of beaches and close to 450 miles of roads, all of which are maintained by the county’s traffic department.
Residents in many of the county’s communities complained of speeding on their roads, expressing concerns for themselves and their families and pets. The Ventura County traffic department was concerned for the safety of drivers and pedestrians and eager to address concerns. They wanted a solution that would allay resident safety concerns and address excessive speeding as determined by pneumatic traffic counters. Their goal was to mitigate speeding with solutions that would adhere to the California Transportation’s (Caltrans) Traffic Calming Guide.
The Solution
The County purchased a variety of driver feedback sign models from Traffic Logix to help mitigate speeding on the hundreds of miles of roadways they maintain. Thirty radar feedback signs have been installed so far on the county’s roads. In order for a location to be chosen for speed mitigation efforts, the county first verifies speeding complaints and then uses a ranking system, which considers speeding, ADT volumes, collision rates, and other relevant factors to determine where risk is greatest.
Once a location is chosen, radar signs are used in stealth mode for two weeks, an intuitive feature offered by Traffic Logix to collect baseline data without operating the signs. When signs are in active use, data is then compared and evaluated periodically to determine effectiveness.
The Traffic Logix signs being used on Ventura County streets are all full matrix signs with the ability to program custom driver-responsive messaging to display based on driver speed. The county chose a variety of signs including small and larger sizes, designed for use on a variety of street types from small residential roads to large multi-lane thoroughfares.
All of the signs are remotely monitored and managed via Logix on Cloud, the cloud-based management and data tracking platform offered by Traffic Logix. The county is able to access detailed statistics and reports as well as manage and update settings and alerts from any web-connected device.
The Benefits
The radar feedback units being used on Ventura County’s roads are all deployed on streets with demonstrated speeding issues. Once the signs are installed, the city is seeing an average speed reduction of several miles per hour, which can make a vast difference in a driver’s ability to stop in an emergency as well as greatly reducing impact in the event that a collision does occur. In addition to concrete data confirming the signs’ efficiency, local residents are happy to see the signs installed to help protect their communities’ streets.
Ms. Mendoza mentioned that the cloud service is intuitive and easy to use, noting that “our staff has been able to utilize most of its features with just minimal training.”
The county is using Logix on Cloud to monitor and program signs remotely as well as to set schedules, run reports, and analyze ongoing data.
With plans to continue purchasing additional Traffic Logix radar feedback signs annually, Ventura County has a system in place for safe streets that users of all kind can confidently navigate every day.
