Faced with chronically underfunded budgets, public-works officials are emphasizing technology-based solutions, such as drone surveys to inform preliminary designs and adaptive traffic signals to maximize corridor movement. They also are speculating on how connected vehicles will affect infrastructure management.
In Maricopa County, Ariz., a test bed of 51 adaptive traffic signals will launch next year to monitor traffic around the city of Scottsdale, said Faisal Saleem, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) branch manager for the Maricopa County Dept. of Transportation. Signals will recalibrate in response to specific situations. For example, if there are many pedestrians at an intersection, the traffic light might stay green longer.