Eyes on the road
With a growing population and a reluctance (or inability) to forego the use of cars, Auckland's traffic is only going to increase.
However, there are steps being taken to deal with it. Auckland's Traffic Management Centre, a collaborative effort between the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and Auckland's eight councils aims to mitigate delays and keep traffic flowing smoothly on the Auckland road network.
Feeds from 200 cameras help the team to manage incidents and optimise the network by adjusting traffic signal timings and providing priority measures for public transport and freight. They are also able to provide information to travellers through radio stations, the Auckland traffic website and electronic message signs. Traffic Management Unit Manager Mark Walker is confident the imminent shift to new Northcote premises in April will make it easier for this strategically important centre to stay on top of traffic.
"The move to the new premises will allow the team responsible for keeping Auckland's traffic moving to be located in one place, in a purpose built facility. Overall the new centre will help us support a safer, more efficient and more reliable transport network."
The most dominant feature inside the new centre is without a doubt the 15m wide screen which rises above the 18 desks in front of it, and delivers a true overview of traffic flowing around the soon-to-be 'Super City'. Made up of 36 cubes providing CCTV feeds of Auckland's motorways, the screen allows the Traffic Management Centre's team to either watch several different sections of motorway or to zoom in on a single image when greater detail is required.
The back end consists of a huge server room, holding 27 server racks, including equipment that handles all the feeds from the cameras and runs them onto the video wall. In order to support the computer room weight and still maintain security and visual appearance criteria from the landlord, a major structural sub floor was installed, a solution primed by The Building Intelligence Group.
"Projects that integrate the numerous work streams necessary to deliver state of the art technology are interesting and challenging in their own right. It has been a real bonus to be involved in something that will have a positive impact on nearly every Aucklander." Project Manager Karan Mahajan.
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