http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_camera
A
traffic camera is a
video camera which
observes vehicular
traffic on a
road. Typically, these are put along major roads such as
highways,
freeways,
motorways,
autoroutes and
expressways, as well as
arterial roads, and are connected with
optical fibers buried alongside or even under the road, with
electrical power either provided by
mains power in urban areas, or via
solar panels or another alternate power source which provides consistent imagery without the threat of a
power outage during inclement conditions.
A
monitoring center receives the live
video in real time, and serves as a
dispatcher if there is a
traffic collision or some other disruptive incident or
road safety issue.
Traffic cameras are a major part of most
intelligent transportation systems. They are especially valuable in
tunnels, where safety equipment can be activated
remotely based upon information provided by the cameras and other
sensors. On surface roads, they are typically mounted on high
poles or
masts, sometimes along with
street lights. On arterial roads, they are often mounted on
traffic light poles at
intersections, where problems are most likely to occur.
Traffic cameras are distinct from
road safety cameras, which are put in specific places to
enforce rules of the road. Those cameras take
still photos in a much higher
image resolution upon a
trigger, whereas traffic cameras are simply for observation and constantly take lower-resolution video, often in full motion. Many transmit in the
legacy analog NTSC and
PAL formats, depending on location. Some have a
compass built in which displays the
cardinal direction at which the camera is aimed, though many providers also provide a reference image of a shot with the cardinal direction.
Many transportation departments have linked their camera networks to the
Internet on online
websites, thus making them
webcams which allow
commuters to view current traffic conditions. They may show either
streaming video or
still imagery which refreshes at a set interval of seconds or minutes, helping travelers determine whether an alternate route should be taken. In the United States and Canada, these often are displayed on state or municipally-run
5-1-1 websites (511 being a
telephone number designed to relay current traffic information). These traffic images are also combined with road sensors which measure traffic timing to provide a full picture of traffic conditions.
Many states and provinces consider this information
public domain, thus many
television stations air live traffic camera imagery during their own traffic reports on their
local news broadcasts. Some cable TV systems provide these pictures full-time on a
governmental access channel, and some broadcast stations set aside a full
digital subchannel solely for traffic information and camera imagery, such as
Philadelphia's
WPHL-DT4 and
WMVT-DT6 in
Milwaukee. However, in some cases for
toll roads and other private road authorities, such as the
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, these images are claimed to be the property of the toll agency (or private company which runs a toll road), and the images are held under an exclusivity agreement for one station (in the ISTHA's case, they only air on
WMAQ-TV).