Tennessee Department of Transportation Celebrates SmartWay Grand Opening in Memphis

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the press of a button, Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely launched TDOT SmartWay, the Memphis area's new intelligent transportation system. Controlled from a state-of-the-art transportation management center (TMC), the new system continually monitors 85 miles of interstate and is expected to make highway travel in the region safer and more user-friendly. Anyone can access the traffic camera images by visiting the TDOT SmartWay website. In addition, Memphis television stations now also have access to live feeds from the TDOT SmartWay cameras.

“The Memphis SmartWay expansion serves as a model for using intelligent transportation systems technology to increase a roadway’s capacity without requiring additional lanes or conventional infrastructure”

TransCore, a leading supplier of ITS infrastructure, serves as the prime contractor, providing comprehensive installation, integration, and maintenance of 85 miles of ITS instrumentation, 65 miles of fiber optic communication infrastructure, a wireless field communication network, a long-haul licensed wireless communication link to the TDOT Regional Headquarters, and video display and control equipment at the Memphis Regional Traffic Management Center.

“The Memphis SmartWay expansion serves as a model for using intelligent transportation systems technology to increase a roadway’s capacity without requiring additional lanes or conventional infrastructure,” said John Simler, president of TransCore’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Group.

The new Memphis TDOT SmartWay system includes 115 traffic cameras, 42 dynamic message signs, more than 350 speed/congestion monitoring stations to spot traffic flow interruptions, and a city-wide highway advisory radio station broadcasting on AM 1660.

The system helps keep Memphis motorists informed about road conditions by providing up-to-the-minute traffic information to help drivers avoid problems on the road. The new system also helps TDOT officials monitor traffic flow and respond quickly to problems on the roadway. TDOT SmartWay has the potential to add 15 percent capacity to the interstate system without widening the roadway. The total contract cost for installation of the ITS components on the project is $32 million, orders of magnitude less than the cost of building additional lanes.

About TransCore

TransCore's 70-year heritage supporting the transportation industry spans a range of offerings for the toll, traffic management, airport, parking, access control, rail, intermodal, trucking, and homeland security markets. With products and installations in 46 countries, more than 100 patents worldwide, and pioneering applications of RFID and satellite communications technologies, TransCore's expertise is unparalleled in the markets it serves. In 2008, Engineering News-Record (ENR) ranked TransCore No. 98 out of the Top 500 Design Firms. TransCore has more than 2,000 employees in 80 locations throughout the world.

TransCore operates as a unit of Roper Industries (NYSE: ROP). Roper Industries is a market-driven, diversified growth company with trailing twelve month revenues of $2.3 billion, and is a component of the Standard & Poor’s S&P Mid-Cap 400, Fortune 1000 and Russell 1000 Indexes. Roper provides engineered products and solutions for global niche markets, including water, energy, radio frequency and research/medical applications.

For more information, visit www.transcore.com or www.roperind.com.