Solutionz Case Study | Peoria Traffic Management Center

The Client

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Arizona Traffic Management Center in Peoria, Arizona manages and operates the traffic signal system and other information technology solutions and field equipment owned by the City of Peoria.

The Challenge

The City of Peoria TMC is tasked with providing patrons a reliable traffic system that helps keep the community safe and people’s schedules on track.

Working from a decade-old audiovisual system, Peoria city officials realized the need to have current/updated technology in place in order to run their day-to-day operations successfully. In order to accomplish this goal, Peoria Police Chief tasked TMC city officials to implement a more modern AV solution that would include high-quality processors and displays throughout the facility. Knowing just how to solve the task at hand, Spinitar, a Solutionz, Inc. company, provided the TMC with a system that would result in greater uptime and reliability on behalf of the City’s AV investment.

Peoria Traffic Management Center Control Room

As far as we are concerned, everyone at Spinitar who we worked with were extremely professional… From the project manager to the actual folks doing the install, the team at Spinitar was very respectful and great to work with.

Steve McKenzie

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS ENGINEER AT THE CITY OF PEORIA.

The Approach

Spinitar and the TMC team worked closely together to integrate an AV system that city officials could rely on while monitoring the flow of traffic throughout the city, including school and construction zones.

Having the ability to clearly observe the flow of traffic and signal performance is key to delivering successful traffic patterns to the thousands of commuters each day. From knowing when to change the signal or turn on flashing caution lights, the TMC relies heavily on the AV infrastructure within their operation to bring them real-time visibility into what’s happening each day on the streets of Peoria.

In addition to serving the needs of the TMC, the AV operations system is also relied on by the Peoria Police Department. When investigating an accident or local crime, investigators have access to the City Traffic Camera Archive where they’re able to view footage from the intersections with the highest propensity of being used as an egress/ ingress route of criminal activity in and out of the city.

When given the opportunity to better the community of Peoria, the Spinitar team implemented their plan and completed the project in just under two weeks.

The Technology

When it came time to evaluate the existing system, city officials knew that in order to meet current network and technology standards, the system needed an upgrade. In an effort to maximize the overall AV solution and prepare the city for future needs, the upgraded system leveraged existing technology, including the city-wide traffic camera systems with streaming protocols along with a shortlist of other viable technologies already present on site.

Video Wall Processor

The original video wall processor was upgraded to a Jupiter Canvas system which allows the system to be accessed not just inside the TMC, but also at any virtual location that is capable of secure network connectivity.

To that end, the system is initially able to connect and view all the features of the main video wall from both the police department, as well as the local City of Peoria baseball stadium.

The new processor also provides integrated IP stream decoding of street-side cameras inside the wall processor, instead of complicated external decoding boxes.

Audio Systems

The audio system was upgraded and included local in-room Bluetooth connectivity from handheld devices.

LCD Displays

New model NEC LCD displays were updated, replacing the existing displays that had an outstanding performance life of a little over 10 years.

Additional 75” monitor displays were added on each side of the main display wall, to allow viewing of local or national news events while simultaneously monitoring traffic.

Controller

The entire system is controlled via a Crestron controller which provides control of all audio and video sources, as well as untrained personnel with the ability to recall video-wall layout presets from the control panel. This capability is installed on all 16 workstations along with iPad control.

KVM Systems

A new digital KVM system from ADDER was integrated into the facility, replacing the older outdated analog style. It provides the city with the ability to view and share controls of 16 separate servers from 16 user workstations. This even allows adjacent conference room users to observe and manage traffic duties in a remote room, out of the way of traffic personnel.

GPS Time Clock

Spinitar also provided a new master GPS time clock for accurate timing of all traffic to a global satellite time source, critical to time-stamping camera activities, and providing a synchronous source to all their servers.

The Result

As technology continues to advance at an accelerated rate, it’s become clear to government entities, including the City of Peoria, Arizona Traffic Management Center, that having a reliable audiovisual system in place will allow for greater uptime and efficiency when serving their respective communities and keeping their patrons safe.

CASE STUDY

Peoria Traffic Management Center

Integrating a Reliable AV System That City Officials Can Rely On