TDOT SmartWay
About SmartWay: TDOT’s Intelligent Transportation System
Currently, the only major urban area without a fully expanded TDOT SmatWay system is Chattanooga and that will change in January 2010 when the Chattanooga TDOT SmartWay Transportation Management Center will be opened. At the end of 2010, other key components of TDOT SmartWay will be completed. The location is at the Enterprise South Industrial Park site in Chattanooga near the Volkswagen site.
On March 26, 2002, 16 traffic cameras went online in Nashville to monitor congested freeways and provide improved incident management capabilities.r
On June 12, 2003, 40 additional cameras were activated for a total of 56 cameras. The system also includes 20 Dynamic Message Signs, approximately 150 speed congestion monitoring stations to spot traffic flow interruptions, and highway advisory radio stations that broadcast on AM frequency 1620. (news release)
On May 9, 2005, TDOT SmartWay was launched in Knoxville with technology including 70 cameras, 16 Dynamic Message Signs, more than 200 speed congestion monitoring stations, and highway advisory radio stations that broadcast on AM frequency 1620. Also beginning on May 9, 2005, camera images from TDOT SmartWay are fed directly to TDOT’s website. (news release)
On November 13, 2008, the Memphis TDOT SmartWay system went live. The system includes 115 traffic cameras, 42 Dynamic Message Signs, more than 350 speed/congestion monitoring stations to spot traffic flow interruptions, and a city-wide highway advisory radio station broadcasting on AM 1660. (news release)
Currently in Operation (System-wide)
- Roadway Traffic Sensors (700) to report traffic counts, speed and travel time.
- Traffic Cameras (250)
- Dynamic Message Signs (78) to provide traffic information to motorists.
- Three (3) Transportation Management Centers: Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis.
- Freeway Service Patrols to reduce congestion by removing minor incidents in a timely fashion. TDOT’s HELP trucks have been in operation in Nashville and Knoxville since 1999 and in Chattanooga and Memphis since 2000.
TDOT Rural ITS Efforts
- TDOT operates two live camera feeds on a section of I-40 in Roane County on Rockwood Mountain.
- Seven overhead DMS signs and ten highway advisory radio transmitters assist motorists traveling on I-75, I-40, I-81 and I-26 on mountainous terrain in east Tennessee.
- Plans are being developed to add live camera monitoring in rural interstate interchanges in east Tennessee including I-40 / I-75 interchange in Loudon County, I-140 / U.S. Highway 129 (Alcoa Hwy) in Blount County, I-40 / I-81 interchange in Jefferson County and the I-81 / I-26 interchange in Sullivan County.
