Historic Southern City Upgrades to High-Tech Traffic Management
City of Savannah creates safe, welcoming environment for residents and visitors with IP video
- By John Merlino
- Oct 01, 2014
Savannah, Georgia is a study in contrast.
As the state’s oldest city, it was
founded long before the American
Revolution. Yet, beneath its cobblestoned
streets lies 38 miles of fiber optic cable,
evidence of a metro-region firmly rooted
in modernity. Touted by national and international
press as a trendy travel hot spot,
nearly a million visitors per month flock to
the city for music and cultural arts festivals,
business summits, creative cuisine and to experience
a place where southern hospitality
has been raised to an art form.
Because this quaint, historic city was never
designed to handle such a large influx of
people and cars, managing traffic and safety
through a congested maze of one-way streets
was a real challenge. Attempts to redirect
events at one intersection often caused a cascade
of traffic jams elsewhere in the bustling
downtown area. Savannah realized that they
needed a force multiplier to proactively manage
event traffic in real-time. Their initial
foray into video-based traffic management
occurred in 2004, when the city strategically
installed a handful of analog cameras on
buildings to help police monitor roadways
during the G8 Conference.
Relying on DVR recordings, however,
proved to be an awkward proposition. The
next year, Savannah used Axis video encoders
to stream the cameras to the city’s data
center. They also added seven AXIS 213 and
AXIS 214 PTZ network cameras, with wireless
connections at police headquarters. The
city integrated the cameras with OnSSI’s
Ocularis VMS, replacing less-intuitive legacy
recording software.
Every subsequent year and as budgets
permit, the city adds more sophisticated
Axis camera technology. Today, more than
25 Axis cameras—including a mix of AXIS
Q60 PTZ Series and AXIS P33 Fixed Dome
Series cameras—dot the Savannah landscape
to monitor roadways and buildings, entertainment
venues, parking garages, community
centers, cemeteries and landfills. The
majority of the cameras stream video to servers
in the city’s data center while a few of the
remote facilities maintain standalone servers
connected to the city’s wide area network so
that police can remotely access the live cameras
and stored video as needed.
“We’ve found Axis cameras to be really
durable and simple to set up,” said Mike DiSanza,
network technician in the IT Department
for the City of Savannah. “They just
plug into the network via PoE switches. We
like how easy they are to custom configure.
Plus, you can adjust the focus and field-ofview
remotely.”
The IT Department noted that with H.264
compression of the video, the city is able to use
storage resources far more efficiently.
Keeping Traffic Flowing
Like Dyed-Green Water
From a Fountain
Each year, the city of Savannah hosts one of
the biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in
the United States, with more than a million
spectators attending the parade. Axis network
cameras play a key role in helping officers
manage the crowds.
“We really appreciate the big picture the
Axis cameras provide, especially on heavy
traffic nights like St. Patrick’s Day,” said Lieutenant
David Gay, special events officer of
the Savannah/Chatham Metropolitan Police
Department.
AXIS Q6032-E PTZ Dome Network Cameras mounted on telephone
poles in key, downtown intersections give police and traffic
engineers in the command center a 360-degree view of the area. As
garages fill up and downtown parking becomes scarce, the police
department notifies the public through social media to seek parking
elsewhere.
During the celebration, police are sometimes forced to close major
roadways due to surges in pedestrian traffic. Rerouting these vehicles
can cause significant congestion elsewhere.
“Savannah’s layout involves a number of one-way streets which
really complicates any large-scale effort to control traffic,” Gay said.
“Our Axis cameras help us in real-time to understand the big picture,
how rerouting vehicles at one intersection will impact traffic throughout
the downtown area.”
The video allows the police and traffic departments to coordinate
the timing of signal lights to accommodate the ebb and flow of pedestrians
and cars, as well as when it is safe to reopen normal routes. As
a result, outings to the downtown area have become more pleasant,
safer experiences for residents and visitors alike.
“We actively monitor the cameras so that when we see the pedestrian
surges subside, we can immediately reopen the street and
alleviate the congestion,” Gay said.
Real-Time, Integrated City Security
Though the cameras were first installed for traffic management, their
use has grown over the years to include public safety operations
across the city. While camera access is typically restricted by the municipal
department, the metropolitan police can access all city-owned
cameras. The access to this real-time video helps them to synchronize
their efforts when protecting city residents.
“It’s been huge asset for our SWAT team,” said Jason Pagliaro,
emergency management liaison for the city of Savannah. “Having that
situational awareness immediately at hand can be a real life saver.”
The video evidence can also be crucial for investigating incidents,
especially if they occur in big crowds or during dynamic events. If
the need arises, the police can push video from any camera to mobile
devices in the field.
Interdepartmental Cooperation Yields Results
Savannah’s success with its video surveillance system is due to a collaborative
effort between law enforcement, the IT department, traffic
engineers and others.
“The police and traffic engineering folks pick the locations and IT
coordinates the process,” said Damien Hoffman, network manager in
the IT department for the city of Savannah. “We look at the network
connectivity challenges, arrange permissions for camera placement
and determine how to get power to the site. Then it’s just a matter of
implementation and configuration. The system wouldn’t exist as it is
without the close relationship between departments.”
This article originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of Security Today.