Smart city infrastructure company Q-Free has announced that the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG) is using the company’s Kinetic Mobility ATMS platform to manage its CV Sync project, one of the most watched smart traffic management upgrades in the country.
The announcement comes as the massive project progresses from its first phase to the significantly larger second phase.
Kinetic Mobility is hardware agnostic, enabling integration to ITS devices from several manufacturers while satisfying the demanding traffic management requirements of the diverse Coachella Valley region, which spans nearly a dozen communities. Q-Free CEO Mark Talbot believes this deployment will set a new standard for regional traffic management. “This is an innovative and highly watched project,” he said. “Kinetic Mobility’s module design allows for extensive customization, offering a range of capabilities to suit any community’s needs.” The suite includes a variety of optional modules, such as Kinetic Signals, Kinetic Signs, Kinetic Events, Kinetic Counts, and Kinetic Corridors, all of which have been deployed in Coachella Valley.
The Coachella Valley and CV Sync are ideal settings for Kinetic Mobility. The Valley hosts the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, commonly called “Coachella,” the largest concert festival in the U.S. each year, as well as a variety of other music, entertainment, and sports events, including the annual Indian Wells Open tennis tournament. The massive influx of traffic for these events, followed by equally significant egress, makes road management a crucial issue for both residents and visitors. Additionally, the region’s population also swells each winter with the arrival of “snowbirds,” who come each year to enjoy the region’s temperate climate, entertainment offerings, and lifestyle.
Carlos A. Ortiz PE, TE (CA), PTOE, CEO of ADVANTEC Consulting Engineers, the project’s lead consultant, emphasized the importance of Kinetic Mobility for this initiative. “With the high stakes and visibility of the CV Sync project, we needed a robust and flexible solution. Kinetic Mobility’s comprehensive suite of tools enables us to manage the region’s complex traffic patterns efficiently, ensuring smooth operations during peak times and special events. The project’s success so far is a testament to our collaboration, and we look forward to continued growth and innovation.”
The CV Sync project includes a total upgrade of the region’s legacy signal controllers and traffic management and communications systems with cutting edge, off-the-shelf Intelligent Transportation Systems technologies, cybersecurity elements, along with the development of a new regional traffic management center and series of local traffic operations centers. The project was made more complex by the requirement that signal control could be switched between the city and the region level to ensure best traffic flow during major events and between them, via center-to-center interfaces between the cities and regional systems. Beyond integrated corridor management, the project required that component systems are scalable and upgradeable to reflect new technology as it becomes available. Kinetic Mobility’s modular system is perfectly suited to the task. “CV Sync is a landmark project for our company and our industry,” said Talbot. “We look forward to showcasing the CV Sync project and Kinetic Mobility at the ITS California meeting later this month.” The ITS California 29th Annual Conference & Exhibition will be held in San Francisco from August 26-28.
