UPPER MERION, PA — The township is experimenting with a new adaptive traffic control system at a few major intersections, designed to improve the flow of traffic during rush hour.

The technology, known as InSync, was installed at 10 intersections from Gulph Road to the Dannehower Bridge. It adapts to real time traffic conditions using digital video cameras and computers at each light.

“A study we did saw that it improved traffic capacity,” said Township Manager Ron Wagenmann. “As a result, they found, during peak hours, that traffic was improved at the intersection by about 40 percent.”

The township was awarded a PennDOT grant of $302,335, effective Dec. 13 of last year. The money, known as the Automated Red Light Enforcement Grant (ARLE), enabled the installation of 30 cameras and eight traffic control monitors. Crews took five weeks to install the InSync system.

“When we did the signal projects as part of the (Route) 202 widening project in the 1990s, and then some upgrades at Gulph Road, new equipment became available. It was a test intersection for a couple of years and we found that is vastly improved,” said Wagenmann.

A formal traffic engineering study is planned for the spring, and based on its findings, township officials will then decide whether to install the technology at other intersections, as the funds become available.

Wagenmann said the manufacturer of InSync claimed the system would improve traffic at intersections 10 to 20 percent. He said that percentage has nearly doubled.

“The traffic is very heavy on 202,” he said. “You have about 60,000 cars a day that use that and the side roads, like Henderson and Allendale road(s). Because they all have television detection, they are now able to ascertain the density of the traffic and also gauge what is the backup of traffic. The signal system itself then decides, from an operational standpoint, do I need to bring this phase up at all, as a pre-left turn slot or post-left turn movement for that particular intersection?”

Wagenmann said the system costs the township nothing, since it is funded by a state grant, and not using any additional electricity, calling it “basically the same.”

“It doesn’t consume that much additional power, but its improving the amount of traffic to put through your road corridors.”

MOUNT PLEASANT — Dental hygienist Amy Natoli lost her good cheer Monday night during the commute home on U.S. Highway 17 when she sat through a light changing four times.

“I was crazed,” she said.

She moved here from the New York City area.

“I might as well be on Long Island again,” Natoli said she thought.

Natoli said it’s common for afternoon rush-hour traffic to get backed up on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge during the drive to her house near the Towne Centre.

Some relief is on the way for Natoli and other commuters in the form of a high-tech traffic-light system designed to keep the cars moving more smoothly. The Town Council Bids and Purchases Committee on Wednesday agreed to buy the new technology.

“It’s cutting-edge,” said Brad Morrison, director of the town Transportation Department.

Mount Pleasant will be the first community in the state to have the new traffic-light system, which has proven its worth in a trial run on U.S. 17 from the Wando Crossing shopping center to the Isle of Palms connector, where travel time was reduced by 30 percent, Morrison said.

The committee voted to spend $436,000 to include installation of the InSync Adaptive Traffic Control System for stoplights on about five miles of U.S. 17 from the connector to near Wando High School.

Some 25 percent less fuel consumption is another documented advantage of the system, said Mayor Billy Swails. “We certainly want to make the traffic move better,” he said.

The traffic-light change will happen by this fall at eight intersections on U.S. 17 from the connector going north.

A few months later, the $84 million widening of the road from the Ravenel Bridge to Interstate 526 is expected to be finished. As part of that project, U.S. 17 will rise as an overpass at Bowman Road.

Charleston County is supervising the road-widening construction from the Ravenel Bridge to I-526. In a separate project, the town is in charge of widening U.S. 17 to six lanes from the IOP connector to near Wando High School.

Rhythm Engineering manufactures the new traffic-light control system, which the company said reduces stop-and-go driving up to 90 percent. Exhaust emissions are cut by 30 percent, it said.

The company said InSync uses digital sensors that know the exact number of cars waiting in each lane and how long they have been there. The information is fed up the line of traffic lights to keep cars and trucks flowing as smoothly as possible.

“The plan is that once you get off the Ravenel Bridge you can drive all the way to Wando High School without stopping,” said Councilman Elton Carrier.

The technology adapts second-by-second to changing traffic and manages the lights accordingly. It uses data collected from cameras and through coils buried at intersections and attempts to move cars along the road with no stops.

In Charleston, traffic is managed in a different way, said Herman Pena, director of the city Department of Transportation.

Timing of traffic lights has been configured based on a study that accurately projects traffic flow depending on time of day, he said.

“The patterns are predictable,” Pena said.

The results have been fewer stops and delays and greater travel speed, he said.

Although the light timing is programmed automatically based on study data, it can be adjusted manually as needed depending on conditions, he said.

The Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania recently presented its 2011 Cabbie Award to the Carlisle Borough Council for its completion of the Carlisle road diet project.

The Cabbie Award, which stands for Clean Air Board Bold Innovators for the Environment, recognizes organizations for “leadership in addressing the air quality issue in our community,” according to the Clean Air Board website.

The Clean Air Board is a faith-based citizens’ initiative organization aimed at improving air quality in the midstate.

The award also honored other area organizations that helped make the project happen, such as Dickinson College, which contributed funding for a traffic study, and Dewberry Engineering, which designed a proposal for the project.

This recognition comes after Carlisle’s major road diet project, which trimmed two driving lanes from four-lane, undivided streets and added a left-turn lane in the middle. The remaining roadway was then used to install on-street parking and bicycle lanes.

The project also added curb extensions, handicap-accessible curb ramps, pedestrian signal enhancement, improved truck traffic signage and [InSync] adaptive traffic light signals.

The project is intended to slow traffic, reduce collisions, improve handicap access downtown and promote bicycle use. The renovations also allow for improved access to downtown businesses for both pedestrians and drivers, who can more comfortably park close to businesses.

Air quality is expected to improve as vehicle traffic is reduced and displaced by bicycle traffic and trucks are diverted around the downtown area.

The project, funded by a $2.826 million Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative grant from the Department of Transportation, has already earned Dewberry Engineering the 2011 project of the year award for small- to medium-scale projects from the Mid-Atlantic Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

The road diet was completed with input from residents and stakeholders including borough planners and officers, planners from Cumberland County and the Letort Regional Authority, local police and fire departments, local and state political representatives, Dickinson College, the Keen Transportation trucking company and other Carlisle-area organizations.

Thomas Daniels, professor of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania, said the Carlisle road diet “enhances the attractive downtown. The project is an excellent example of community planning with public participation.”

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?

What was “your finest moment,” the thing you’re most proud of?
Beating teams from nine states to win the Southern District ITE (SDITE) Traffic Bowl competition

What are your favorite TV shows?
The Simpsons, Forensic Detective on the Discovery channel and anything on NGC

What book has had the most impact on you?
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

What’s your biggest achievement in life?
Earning my Master of Science degree… I hope to change that!

What’s the best meal you can prepare?
A mean Chicken Curry and Biryani