New traffic cameras at two Nanaimo intersections aren't capturing personal data such as license plate numbers. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

bird's eye view

New ‘smart’ cameras in Nanaimo to enhance traffic & transportation decision making

May 19, 2020 | 5:37 AM

NANAIMO — Cameras overseeing two intersections in Nanaimo are expected to be the beginning of ‘next level’ technology to be relied upon by city officials for many years.

The cameras installed over the past several months point in all directions atop the Westwood/Jingle Pot Rd. intersection and the Third St./Bruce Ave. intersection.

Jamie Rose, City of Nanaimo transportation manager, said the devices provide much more data compared to their current infrastructure, including what kinds of vehicles are using an intersection and where they are going.

Pedestrians and cyclists are also now captured.

“The primary driver of this is to get better information of how our residents are moving through the community and being able to make better decisions based on that,” Rose told NanaimoNewsNOW.

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Rose said as their data collection system builds, things like better managing traffic at peak times of the day and determining where high cycling demand is will be more accurate and easier to determine.

He said while Nanaimo’s traffic signals can be altered, they are programmed to run independently. setting up a network of intersection cameras allows them to communicate with each other, and feed real time information to a central office, Rose said.

“That opens up a whole new world of adaptability and intelligent programming. You can take it almost as far as your imagination can go.”

In addition to capturing more information, Rose said the cameras are not bogged down by drawbacks to their traffic sensing loops cut into the road, which require removal and re-installation during paving projects.

Rose said the new eyes on the road are a pilot project, but said technology used by other municipalities has been refined and he fully expects they’ll be widely used locally.

In terms of privacy concerns, Rose said there aren’t any. He stressed data is collected from the images, but they are not stored.

He said the new devices are not speed or red light cameras.

“There’s no processing of a license plate or any sort of imagery like that, it’s just the optical zone that’s being observed, it’s not actually being captured or retained.”

The city program is unrelated to the provincially implemented red light and speed camera on the Island Hwy. at Bowen Rd., or the red light camera situated further north on the same highway at Hammond Bay Rd.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes