Enhancing the monitoring capabilities of this system with a critical bird's-eye view is an aerial surveillance program, in action each morning and afternoon, that transmits live video footage of incidents and bottlenecks directly to the county's transportation management center. Emphasis on communications benefits all concerned Staffed with a pilot and a traffic technician, a government airplane circles the county, spotting incidents and quickly identifying their locations and circumstances. This instantaneous and precise information, fed automatically to the police and fire computer-aided dispatch system, alerts emergency agencies to the need for immediate response. The real-time information may also direct the transportation management center to optimize traffic flow with changes to traffic signals and variable message signs. During snowstorms or other crises, the transportation management center takes over a local cable television channel and updates conditions around the clock with video footage from aerial and ground cameras, sharing real-time traffic information with the traveler.
Radio also broadcasts current traffic conditions.