Thursday, September 2, 2010

Who's Up For XBox?

So check this out. This is a picture of the Spokane Regional Transportation Management Center, (or SRTMC for short) which is located within the SRTC suite of offices. I was trying to get a good picture of the new video wall that was just installed.

The SRTMC is a control center of monitors and high tech traffic control equipment where Center operators monitor traffic for potential problems and alert incident response crews to problems, control message signs that warn drivers of accidents and delays, and post warning messages to area highway advisory radio stations.

Before this new wall was installed, center operators would squint at a series of small old TV monitors resting on shelves and racks. It was pretty low tech. This new video wall is amazing though. I used to work for a couple area TV stations and they never had anything nearly as cool as this. The wall can either be split up into 18 separate views, made into one big screen, or divided any way the operators want. I suggested a giant Rock Band competition or a Super Bowl party but no one around here listens to me.

The video wall was funded through a program called 'Congestion Mangament/Air Quality' that provides money to projects that help reduce congestion and improve air quality. The SRTMC qualifies for this money because of their efforts to help keep traffic moving smoothly. Just thought you might want to know where some of your tax dollars are going.

If you haven't used it already, get on the SRTMC website and see how it can help you get from point A to point B more easily. You can check the route you drive for backups and other problems. Here's a link.

By the way, the SRTMC is a collaboration of the Cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley, Spokane Transit Authority, Spokane County, Washington State Department of Transportation, and the Spokane Regional Transportation Council (SRTC). Each of those jurisdictions share control and funding of the center.

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About SRTC

SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.