Installation of New Traffic Control Technology at 14 Intersections
Source: City of Goleta
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department and City of Goleta are pleased to announce the recent installation and implementation of a new GPS-based traffic control system that will improve response times and increase public safety.
The Opticom system transmits a signal from the approaching emergency vehicle to the traffic light, prioritizing the green light and allowing the emergency vehicle to continue through the intersection. Fourteen Santa Barbara County Fire Department fire engines and two trucks have been outfitted with the emitting technology. The system has been installed at 14 Goleta intersections.
Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said, “We are pleased to have technology in place that allows for faster and safer service to the community.”
Vyto Adomaitis, City of Goleta Neighborhood Services and Public Safety Director, said, “We are extremely proud to partner with Mr. Mark Linehan, owner of the Camino Real Marketplace, and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, to bring this technology here to our community and as a result, provide a higher level of public safety services to our residents.”
Funding for the Opticom system was provided by Mark Linehan, owner of the Camino Real Marketplace. Mr. Linehan has provided more than one million dollars over the years to public safety efforts in the City of Goleta.
Opticom system installed at a Goleta intersection.
9 Comments
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Jan 12, 2021 03:42 PMWhile the benefits are obvious to the community and those in dire need. How would abuse of this system be handled? Is there policy in place to handle habitual abuse of this system? Anyone else see this being used "under the radar" to get to non-emergent calls for service or otherwise? There are cases out there of signal preemption abuse. If you are appalled at the thought of abuse, remember, it's the world we live in.
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Jan 13, 2021 07:23 AMAnyone see the fire captains having them in their cars and using them when they are late for lunch? How are they able to monitor this?
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Jan 13, 2021 08:03 AMjust because its "the world we live in" doesnt mean we automatically assume abuse, dont you recall innocent until proven quilty.
lets not try to derail a good system. You have little knowledge of the system to assume abuse can happen as easily as you stated. I for one. dont see it as being so easy to "dupe".
the world isnt that bad of a place, take a break from the sky falling and you will see it.
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Jan 13, 2021 11:44 AMReally SC Photo? Signal preemption abuse? Right up there with transportation justice and utility holes. What’s next? Infrastructure injustice? Circulation bias?
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Jan 12, 2021 04:20 PMNeat, but I have some questions. Why is the fire department the only ones allowed to use this technology, why not the Sheriff or non-fire affiliated ambulances? Were they placed equitably throughout the City of Goleta (i.e. not only surrounding Mr. Linehan's Camino Real Marketplace)?
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Jan 13, 2021 08:01 AMprobably testing it out, they rarely roll out to everyone in one shot. give it time
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Jan 12, 2021 05:57 PMInteresting! I was wondering what those devices are on the traffic signal poles. Does the City of Santa Barbara have a system like this?
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Jan 13, 2021 12:19 PMThey only work when the emergency lights are activated. How is it that people can complain about literally anything? It’s pretty sad they install a system to allow fire department vehicles to get to an incident faster and safer and here we are saying it will be abused and isn’t equitable without knowing any facts.
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Jan 13, 2021 02:14 PM@pitmix
The system has the ability to log the vehicle and time it was triggered.