NEW PORT RICHEY – Pasco County will explore new technology that will allow transportation engineers and planners to gauge traffic volumes as well as hone in on near-misses on specific roads.
Eric Katz, of Marlin Engineering, provided an update Feb. 13 to the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization about the project. The MPO is using a grant to get a demonstration of the technology.
“We’re going to be bringing the latest and greatest in regard to bike/ped(estrian) data collection upon three high priority locations within the county,” Katz said.
Those locations are as follows:
- Starkey Boulevard and State Road 54.
- Ridge Road and the Suncoast Trail Crossing.
- U.S. 19 and Sea Ranch Road.
Katz said the AI-powered technology is able to distinguish among vehicles, trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians to help tell a story about how an intersection is being used. Engineers and planners can use traffic volume and trajectory data to determine how roads can be made safer.
The technology can capture every movement made at an intersection within a 24-hour period. It can track near misses or scenarios that may lead to a crash, isolating each incident with a screenshot for added context.
Katz’s team will be putting out the equipment and collecting data starting next month. April and May will be used to analyze the data. That data will be included within a strategic plan and a presentation to the Pasco MPO in June.
Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano pressed MPO Executive Director Tania Gorman why U.S. 19 wasn’t a focal point for the study, considering the highway is of special interest to leaders.
Gorman explained the grant with Marlin Engineering was to demonstrate the technology before investing an exorbitant amount of money into it. Leaders may opt to use it again to analyze more locations.
Mariano asked Gorman if it was too late to change locations for the study. Gorman said the MPO has already submitted a task order for the grant. Marlin Engineering has already started preparing the three selected locations.
This did not deter Mariano, who was mid-motion to swap out a location before Justin Hall, of the Florida Department of Transportation, approached the podium.
“So for U.S. 19, we’re actually doing exactly what they’re presenting to you up and down the entire corridor – Pasco Hernando and Citrus counties,” Hall told Mariano. “So if you want us to prioritize an intersection, I can do that. We have a consultant doing the same thing – near-miss analysis cameras – so we could prioritize that intersection, have it turned around. We don’t have to issue a new task because their task is for the entire stretch of U.S. 19.”
Mariano told him to prioritize the Grand Boulevard intersection.
