More Utah intersections for Ouster in Econolite deal

Lidar specialist Ouster says that Econolite's contract with Utah Department of Transportation (UDoT) is set to expand the Ouster BlueCity traffic management solution to over 100 intersections in the US state.

The five-year deal was signed earlier this year and involved an initial order for 15 Ouster BlueCity systems. 

Ouster says the success of an initial deployment at over a dozen intersections has led to the expansion at roads across Cedar City, Ogden, Orem and Salt Lake City to begin with.

BlueCity integrates with existing traffic signal systems, including Econolite Cobalt traffic signal controllers and EOS firmware, offering dynamic traffic signal interventions which, Ouster says, improve safety for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.

Jim Madden, Econolite vice president of US sales, says: “The situational awareness benefits of combining Ouster BlueCity with Econolite’s Cobalt controllers are groundbreaking. Facilitating UDOT’s ability to gather real-time insights into traffic flow, road user behaviour, and potential safety risks while enabling dynamic traffic signal control is truly transformative."

BlueCity combines 3D digital Lidar with perception software for real-time, multimodal traffic signal actuation and analytics and has hundreds of "booked and deployed" sites worldwide, says Ouster CEO Angus Pacala. 

Using NVIDIA’s computing technology, BlueCity delivers low-latency object detection, classification, and tracking to improve signal timings and reduce congestion, as well as to support Vehicle to Everything communications and other use-cases such as near-miss detection and wrong-way driving.

“The rapid expansion of Ouster BlueCity across Utah, following its initial deployment this spring, highlights the traffic efficiency and safety benefits of the system,” Pacula adds.

“With hundreds of thousands of signalised intersections in the US alone, its success is just beginning.”