There’s a new watchdog carefully monitoring major Salt Lake Valley intersections.
It’s called lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging. The technology uses eye-safe laser beams to measure the distance and movement of cars, pedestrians and cyclists alike in order to understand how to make intersections safer and more efficient for all.
Right now, lidar is only fully operational at two local intersections: 5900 South and State Street in Murray; and 2100 South and Redwood Road in Salt Lake City, near Glendale Golf Course, according to the Utah Department of Transportation.
But there are plans to expand. The next intersections expected to see the technology fully operational include 700 East and 1300 South in Salt Lake City, near Liberty Park; and 300 West and 600 North, in the Marmalade neighborhood.
What exactly does lidar do?
The technology works similar to echolocation, which is how bats are able to sound out their surroundings.
The laser beams target and perceive what’s going on in an intersection in order to recreate it in 3D. That way, the 3D view can be studied for things like how and where near-miss crashes are happening, whether green light times are too short, and whether crosswalk times should increase.
There are currently three other ways that Utah monitors traffic signaling, but they don’t compare to lidar, according to Mark Taylor, a traffic signal operations engineer with UDOT. Those three methods include inductive loop, video and radar.
The inductive loop method is highly accurate but struggles to pick up bicycles and pedestrians, Taylor said. It involves installing a wire system in the pavement of intersections to detect vehicles.
Video monitoring looks for pixel changes in imagery to detect vehicles. But this method falls short when weather conditions such as shadows and heavy rain can cloud cameras.
Using radar to detect vehicles is the most common method in Utah, Taylor said. But lidar is more precise, detecting cars 99.8% of the time.
The technology also recently dropped in price, according to UDOT. For instance, lidar installation right now costs about $30,000 to $40,000, while traditional monitoring methods can cost about $25,000 to $40,000.
“We are able to do so much with this technology that others are not able to do,” Taylor said, calling it cost-efficient.
How could lidar make roads safer?
One of the companies partnering with UDOT on the project includes Blue-Band, which uses Integrator-AI software to compile and analyze lidar data that Blue-Band predicts will help significantly reduce traffic crashes.
“Things like wrong-way drivers, red light runners … we are actually providing a way to respond to these issues in real-time,” said Blue-Band’s CEO, Kevin Yorke.
Such analysis, and accuracy, makes it so that transportation agencies “don’t have to guess” about how to make roads safer, said John Gleason, a spokesperson with UDOT.
He noted that lidar also helps prioritize buses and snowplows in intersections, so that buses can better stick to schedule and snowplows can clear roads faster.
The lidar technology currently installed is operated by different companies. The Murray intersection is operated by Seoul Robotics, while the system in the Redwood Road intersection is operated by Ouster.
Taylor said UDOT is testing multiple brands for now in order to be “as fiscally responsible as we can to the taxpayers of Utah.”
“When we have competition, it helps to keep costs competitive, innovation high, and customer service high,” Taylor said.
Gabriel Cho, business development director at Seoul Robotics, told The Salt Lake Tribune in Korean that he hopes their project with UDOT, one of the company’s first in the U.S., “evolves from a proof of concept into a large-scale, multi-deployment initiative.”
What’s next?
UDOT is also testing how lidar could work in conjunction with connected vehicle technology at two intersections in Provo, including 500 West and 940 North, near Utah Valley Hospital.
The idea is that lidar technology could communicate with vehicles to better understand pedestrian and cyclist interactions and risk. UDOT is working with Panasonic to develop the technology.
“The more we can get cars talking to our roads, the safer we will all be,” said Blaine Leonard, UDOT transportation technology engineer.
Taylor said such advancements stand to bring UDOT closer to its goal of “zero fatalities” on roadways.
“I believe this will be the future,” he said.