AUSTIN, Texas — The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority board decided to move forward with a new video sharing system. It would allow the CTRMA to share video streams with TxDOT, the City of Austin and Austin police, among other partners.
"We're trying to optimize the system by clearing accidents or debris in the roadway as quickly as possible," said Greg Mack, CTRMA assistant director of IT and toll systems.
The CTRMA has 45 cameras on the toll roads it manages, like on 183, 290 and the MoPac Express Lanes. The sharing system is supposed to help officials get to crashes faster, clean up roads quicker and give accurate travel information to drivers.
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"We think this is another way, another step in that process of, if we know about something, we want to alert and let everyone see what we know," said Mack. "Currently, we're just about ready to install it, implement this project. At the beginning, phase one will be our regional partners, CapMetro, City of Austin, TXDoT. Phase two will be opening it up to the public onto our website so we can see it."
It comes at a time when traffic deaths have been skyrocketing.
"We're seeing a lot less crashes, a lot less serious crashes, but the crashes that are happening, unfortunately, are resulting in fatalities," said Det. Patrick Oborski with Austin police. "This year, we're already at 21 traffic fatalities. So, up over 100% compared over the last year."
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APD's clean-up time depends on the circumstances, but it could take from 30 minutes up to several hours.
"We do a pretty good job of clearing the roadways with minor crashes as quick as we can," said Oborski.
The CTRMA hopes the new system will help police cut down that time even more and just make Austin traffic better.
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