Louisiana is getting a high-tech once-over with the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) deploying traffic count devices throughout the state. Announced via their official website, this move is to gather much-needed data on roads that haven't been checked out in over two decades. Motorists navigating through Caddo, Sabine, St. John, St. Martin, and Red River parishes will soon notice these devices keeping tally on traffic flow and patterns.
The tech in question is designed to unobtrusively blend in, meant to accurately track how many cars are to use certain stretches of roadway, what kind of vehicles are dominant, and how often these roads are traveled. DOTD emphasizes that these counters are harmless and pose no threat to the public or their vehicles. Still, they've made a point to ask everyone to avoid tampering with the gear to not skew the data—which will ultimately go on to inform how the state shapes its future infrastructure projects.
According to the announcement on the DOTD's website, these traffic count devices are a regular feature of DOTD’s annual traffic monitoring program. The data compiled plays a crucial role in the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS), a tool for the assessment and evaluation of the state's transportation network. This scheme is key to making decisions about design standards for upcoming projects and prioritizing which areas need a tune-up in terms of infrastructure.
