City of Charlottesville, VA
The City of Charlottesville, VA (City) is the government seat of Albemarle County and home to the University of Virginia (UVA). While the City has a population of just over 46,000, the surrounding metropolitan area has a population of 160,000. With just 10.4 square miles and 75 signalized intersections, the City sees heavy daily commuter traffic, as well as significant traffic congestion related to UVA programs and events.
In September 2024, as part of an effort to enhance traffic management efficiencies, lower vehicle emissions, and reduce travel times, the City looked to a leading-edge single centralized Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) solution to connect its roadway network and help prepare for future ITS capabilities. By integrating an ATMS solution, the City’s goal was to have the ATMS provide the capability to remotely confirm, monitor, and control devices in real-time to better manage its roadways and intersections. In addition, the City sought to leverage the traffic information collected to inform motorists about traffic conditions to support incident management, special events, and weather events through push notification programs.
In December 2024, the City awarded Econolite with the contract to deploy and integrate the Centracs® Mobility Platform for its centralized ATMS solution. Centracs Mobility will enable the management and operations of all ITS devices, traffic signals, and roadside infrastructure, including Econolite Cobalt controllers. In addition, Centracs Mobility will support the City’s plans for real-time management of arterial congestion, as well as integration of future ITS projects to the City’s current transportation architecture/infrastructure.
Econolite will integrate Centracs Mobility the City’s communication network that consists of a mix of fiber optic and cellular based. Econolite will also initially connect Centracs Mobility to approximately 26 Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, enabling the City to fully manage remote configuration and Pan, Tilt, Zoom (PTZ) control of each camera for traffic monitoring while providing flexibility to add more cameras in the future. Along with control over the City’s CCTV cameras, Centracs Mobility will provide for future management and support of Dynamic Message Signs (DMS), vehicle detection (mix of video and inductive loops), V2X technologies, Bluetooth® travel time detectors, and future Connected Vehicle (CV) applications.
