In a crisis, every second matters. That’s why a recent change involving Milton’s traffic lights is so important.

Working with Alpharetta-based Applied Information, Inc. and utilizing their Glance-connected infrastructure platform iATL, the City has implemented changes so firefighters can respond even faster and safer to emergencies.

Here’s how it works: Milton traffic signals and City firefighting vehicles are now equipped with new technology that, in essence, talks to each other. When a 911 call comes in and a fire truck hits the road, the signals will automatically shift to green in the direction that emergency vehicle is heading. This signal pre-emption only activates if the fire vehicle has its lights and sirens on. (So driving around when there is no emergency, they’ll continue to stop at lights and operate like any other driver with no impact on signals.)

This means drivers of engines answering calls won’t have to wait at red lights or perhaps slowly shuffle through them, hoping vehicles coming from other directions stop as they should. It helps, too, that the iATL technology is a few steps ahead: The signals switch at least 10-to-15-seconds in advance of whenever a responding fire vehicle will traverse an intersection, which makes collisions involving vehicles trying to race through yellow lights less likely. (So if you find yourself stuck a little longer than usual at a red light as a fire truck rushes by, this helps explain why.) 

This system was already in place in Alpharetta. This is critical since firefighters from that city and Milton regularly help respond to each other’s calls and sometimes people go in and out of the two cities. (So because of this, a Milton fire vehicle would not get stuck at the technically-in-Alpharetta intersection of Highway 9 and Cogburn Road, for instance.) And relatively soon, Roswell will join the same network, meaning that the fire fleet from all three departments will get green lights in whatever of the three cities they are in. 

The new technology goes beyond traffic signal collaboration. It will include real-time traffic information – so, a souped-up and more locally accurate GPS – that can be used by police officers on patrol and Public Works team members maintaining roadsides. There also will be new ways to access details related to a trip that can be analyzed to inform after-the-fact assessments of emergency call responses. 

Taken all together, the goal is two-fold: 1) to minimize the potential for accidents involving fast-moving first responders and regular drivers and 2) to help these first responders get to wherever they need to go as fast as they can get there. In a fire, health emergency, or some other such crisis, the ability to reach a scene quickly can save lives.