Bids Sought for Airport System
The Los Angeles Board of Public Works has launched a search for a firm to build a computerized traffic control system to reduce congestion around Los Angeles International Airport.
The board gave notice that it will take bids until Oct. 4 for an Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control system, similar to the ones already in place downtown and around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
City engineers estimate the project will cost $2.77 million.
ATSAC systems take information on how traffic is flowing, and synchronize signals accordingly. They also allow engineers operating the systems from a downtown “nerve center” to adjust for unusual problems, minimizing the resulting congestion.
“At the Coliseum, there was a 10 to 12% decrease in the number of stops cars make, and a 10% increase in average speed,” said Wilbur Takashimi, city traffic engineer.
That ATSAC system, the first in the city, was built in time for the 1984 Olympics. It performed beyond expectations, prompting plans for a series of ATSACs around the city that will eventually form a single network.
The downtown system was completed this year, and another is under construction in the Westwood and Century City areas.
The airport ATSAC system will involve 98 intersections, compared to 212 in the downtown network.
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