RTC, Waycare Announce First-Ever U.S. Partnership to Help Prevent Road Crashes, Traffic Congestion
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada and Waycare announced a pilot program that for the first time in the U.S. will help prevent traffic crashes and congestion. Waycare's proprietary technology predicts traffic crashes and related congestion before they occur, helping to prevent them altogether and enabling first responders to better allocate their resources.
The Waycare platform integrates historical data with real-time data, such as traffic light timing, major events, weather conditions, vehicle location, speeds, counts and occupancies. The resulting information helps identify, for the first time, dangerous driving conditions on the road, well before an incident occurs.
Today, cities rely on their own infrastructure - sensors, cameras and other devices - to track and manage traffic systems, primarily in response to incidents. Waycare’s predictive analytics enables local first responders and traffic management centers to more efficiently deploy resources to patrol problem areas to calm traffic in hopes of preventing traffic crashes altogether.
“Real-time data is an unutilized asset that, with the introduction of predictive analytics, will enable cities to save lives on the road and optimize traffic management,” said Waycare CEO Noam Maital. “To illustrate that point, we can collect 200 times more data than the data generated by all road sensors in Las Vegas today. Our pilot program in Southern Nevada is yet another testament that it is truly one of the most innovative regions in the U.S.”
The RTC and Waycare are collaborating with Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) and Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) to use Waycare’s predictive insights to strategically deploy highway patrol and roadside service units.
The RTC’s traffic management center will use the platform to optimize traffic flow through the two designated pilot corridors, U.S. 95 West of I-15 and I-15 South of Charleston Boulevard.
“We are excited to be working with Waycare and our partners at NDOT and NHP to further our ongoing efforts to utilize data to improve our regional traffic management system,” said Tina Quigley, RTC general manager. “These types of advanced technologies represent the future of transportation, and the future is now in Southern Nevada.”
“The information we get from Waycare will enable us to use our resources, including the Freeway Service Patrol, in a more efficient and strategic manner,” said Rudy Malfabon, NDOT director, which provides the Freeway Service Patrol to improve highway safety by reducing the time required to remove incidents that can disrupt traffic flows and cause traffic congestion.
Dan Langford, director of the Nevada Center for Advanced Mobility (NCAM), added, “Nevada continues to be at the forefront of technology development that improves our transportation systems. As a state, we continue to diversify and broaden our international partnerships. In this case, technology companies like Waycare help build on our existing relationship with Israel that was initiated by the Nevada Governors trade mission in 2013. Solutions to our transportation challenges lie in advanced technologies and global collaboration.”
