Georgia Tech includes City of Valdosta Traffic Management in Summer Tour

On Wednesday, June 28, the City of Valdosta was honored to be one of the Georgia Tech 2023 Summer Tour sites with President Ángel Cabrera.

City Traffic Manager Larry Ogden showcased the Traffic Management Center  (TMC) advanced transponders emergency SMART technology.

In August 2020, Valdosta was awarded the Georgia Tech Smart Communities Challenge Grant, providing the City’s Traffic Management Center (TMC) with funding to have all 128 signal intersections equipped with smart technology, enabling connecting all modes of travel to traffic infrastructure and one another. The grant included installing advanced transponders in emergency response vehicles and downloading smartphone apps, such as TravelSafely, to be used by VSU students and members of the Valdosta community.

The award provided a grant to have all 128 traffic signals equipped with smart technology for improving traffic flow and reducing the number of traffic accidents. This included the installation of signal pre-emption devices for fire vehicles, decreasing emergency response times, and deploying the Travel Safely app for our community.

It also allowed the City to partner with Valdosta State University and Georgia Tech to offer hands-on experience to the next generation of students pursuing traffic engineering and signal maintenance careers. The students involved also presented their contributions to the project.

By utilizing spoken alerts, TravelSafely allows you to focus on the road and receive alerts while using your favorite mapping app.

For more information, contact the Engineering Department at 229-259-3530.