My Visit to TransGuide

            Today, my department at work had the opportunity to tour the TransGuide facilities through TxDOT. This facility is the home base for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) designed by TxDOT. They help manage and observe traffic conditions through CCTV cameras, DMS message signs, and fiber optics to detect travel times and provide real-time information to motorists. We got a glimpse of the dispatch floor, and I thought we walked into space command with the number of computers and TV monitors there were. Each worker there had eight screens that they were utilizing. The center runs 24 hours a day for 7 days a week. They showed us a new way they are starting to detect and track wrong-way drivers using AI detection through CCTV cameras. The system is extremely intricate and overwhelming, even for a group of us who are in the engineering field. It truly gave me a new respect for what those people do for our safety. Although the dispatch and monitoring center was amazing, the most interesting part of the tour for me was when we got to go to what they call the signal shop. This is the room where they set up, test, and monitor traffic signal systems around the San Antonio area. They have live feeds and remote system adjustment capabilities for the signals that TxDOT controls, and they even showed us live signal adjustments that they had to make on the fly. One of them also went through the entire inside of a signal controller cabinet and let us know what each component did and how it was used and controlled. I am a veteran in traffic signal design, but I have never had the opportunity before to see how the inner workings were assembled and manipulated. It was truly eye-opening seeing how the designs and labels I put on a piece of paper turn into physical devices and circuits to run the actual signals in the field.