Area gets $11.9M grant for safer walking, better traffic
A federal transportation grant of nearly $12 million has been awarded to the Orlando area to develop technology protecting pedestrians and cyclists, along with lessening traffic woes.
Much of that grant will be used near and at University of Central Florida as a test site for safety and efficiency applications that, ideally, would be expanded in the region.
The technology is new and unfolding, while the challenges of pedestrian and cycling safety in Central Florida are entrenched.
“Not by any stretch” will the grant immediately solve risks for people walking and riding bikes, said Jeremy Dilmore, a Florida Department of Transportation program manager in traffic operations. But the cash infusion will give the state and region a chance to try out and expand technologies that incorporate sensors, phones and data management to alert drivers, pedestrians and cyclists of a possible collision, Dilmore said.
Eric Hill of the region’s transportation planner, MetroPlan Orlando, said the technology development also will be done in Pine Hills, the community west of Orlando with a higher rate of pedestrian accidents.
The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment Program.” The program is awarding up to $60 million annually from 2016 through 2020; grants went to 10 projects nationally this year, with the $11.9 million for Central Florida as the largest.
The grant will apply to five years of development of four programs. Among them is “PedSafe,” a collision-avoidance system designed by the state’s transportation department, using sensors and communication systems to reduce pedestrian and bicycle crashes.
Another is “GreenWay,” employing sensors and controllers to ease traffic trouble, including “actively managing” more than 1,000 traffic signals.
The “SmartCommunity” program will develop applications for planning efficient trips.
The last is “SunStore,” an initiative to manage video and data to be used by the other programs.