When the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) department was faced with the daunting task of reducing traffic congestion and commute times throughout LA County, they decided to go wireless.

In fact, LA County’s wireless communication system earned a 2009 National Association of Counties Achievement Award. This honor is presented each year to county officials, their employees and the counties themselves to recognize the creativity and imagination of counties across the nation. The desire and need to provide communications to traffic signals throughout LA County resulted in LACDPW working with Systems Integrated to design and implement a large Proxim wireless network. This deployment is a key element of LA County’s expansive Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) program, which is dedicated to reducing smog and traffic congestion with technology.

Wireless radio installation reduced both the set up and operating costs for signal communication while also assisting the County’s goal to reduce traffic problems for the travelling public. The County of LA estimated that utilization of Proxim’s wireless technology to connect the 1,000 traffic intersections saved the County’s ITS program $7 million in costs over traditional copper or fiber optic installations. Additionally, the County of LA estimated that the use of Proxim’s radios will save the County $708,000 annually versus the cost of leased telephone lines.

“The ability to deploy a wireless communications network for monitoring the operation of 1,000 traffic signals is a huge enabler of productivity for LA County, and will go a long way towards the County’s goal to reduce congestion and enable real‐time traffic signal monitoring,” said John Holbrook, General Manager of SI. “We’ve found that Proxim’s broadband wireless technology not only provides the best performance for delivering bandwidth intensive applications like video, but it is also the most cost‐effective solution on the market. As a result, we have used Proxim’s equipment exclusively throughout this deployment.”

The Department of Public Works awarded SI with the phase 2 implementation of this wireless communication system project in September 2007. The phase 2 contract, valued at approximately $7 million, followed SI’s highly successful 51 intersection pilot project deployment in LA County’s South Bay area. To date, the project has equipped over 500 intersections with Proxim’s Tsunami™ MP.11 point‐to‐multipoint radios and will provide communications to approximately 500 more intersections. Overall, more than 1,200 Proxim Tsunami MP.11 point‐to‐multipoint radios will be deployed for 1,000 traffic signalized intersections across the County. Approximately 30 of the signalized intersections will be equipped with one or more video cameras to enable remote monitoring of traffic flow. The cameras will also supply needed data from the intersection to enable remote adjustment of traffic signal timing if appropriate for flow optimization.

The County’s Traffic Management Center (TMC), located in Alhambra, is a high tech facility which combines multiple technologies and software systems. The primary purpose of the Proxim’s broadband wireless communication system is to provide communications for the County’s Kimley‐ Horn Integrated Traffic Systems (KITS) software. Combined, these systems have enabled County and City staff to monitor traffic signals, react in real time to traffic problems and if necessary, adjust traffic signal timing from the TMC to relieve congestion for commuters through more than 30 cities in LA County.

“More cities and counties are realizing that wireless technology can save them a lot of money in both up front and recurring costs, and in the case of LA County, wireless technology was able to help save $7 million in costs up front, and an additional $708,000 annually – money which can now be reallocated to

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“We’ve found that Proxim’s broadband wireless technology not only provides the best performance for delivering bandwidth intensive applications like video, but it is also the most cost‐effective solution on the market. As a result, we have used Proxim’s equipment exclusively throughout this deployment.”

– John Holbrook, General Manager of SI.

education, healthcare and other endeavours,” said Pankaj Manglik, CEO of Proxim. “Especially in these economic times, the ability for cities and counties to save money on IT costs enables them to put that money where it’s truly needed. And as we’ve seen with LA County and others, wireless technology not only saves the county money, but it is a great enabler for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), which increases the quality of life for citizens by reducing smog and their commute times.”

Challenge:

• With over 10 million residents, LA County deals with some of the heaviest traffic in the country
• In order to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce the amount of smog created by idling vehicles, LA County needed to deploy a comprehensive Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), which includes video cameras at over 1,200 intersections throughout the county
• Deploying fiber to every intersection with a camera would be cost‐prohibitive, so LA County needed an alternate solution

Proxim solutions:

• County‐wide point‐to‐multipoint (PtMP) wireless network designed and deployed by System Integrated
• Over 1,200 Proxim Tsunami MP.11 radios deployed at over 1,000 intersections
• Backhauls video traffic from the intersections back to the County’s Traffic Management Center (TMC)

Results:

• Proxim’s wireless network enables cameras to stream video for remote monitoring of traffic flow as well as the data needed to enable remote adjustment of traffic signal timing for flow optimization
• Initial savings of more than $7 million over the cost of wired solutions
• Annual savings of $708,000 by avoiding leased‐line costs