Unveiling the black road cables: Silent traffic observers capturing data for smarter road networks. Data-Driven Traffic Insights
As you navigate the highways and byways of your daily commute, you may have encountered an intriguing sight: black cables stretched across the road, almost like stealthy sentinels of the pavement. But what exactly are these enigmatic tubes, and what role do they play in our transportation infrastructure? The answer lies in the realm of traffic management and data collection.
These unassuming black cables are, in fact, portable traffic counters strategically placed by transportation authorities for research purposes. Primarily used by local agencies, these tubes hold vital insights into road usage and traffic patterns. With more than 12,000 of these traffic counters scattered across the state, they provide invaluable data that fuels the planning and development of our road networks.
Decoding the Mechanism Behind the Black Cables
The technology driving these unobtrusive rubber cords is elegantly simple yet remarkably effective.2 Each time a vehicle’s tires contact the tube, a burst of air is triggered, setting off an electrical signal recorded by a counter device. This ingenious pneumatic mechanism can track the volume of vehicles passing over a road within a given timeframe. Transportation agencies can gain insights into peak traffic congestion periods by analyzing the intervals between these air bursts. When deployed in pairs, these tubes provide even richer data, enabling the determination of vehicle class, speed, and direction.
Such information is far from trivial—it forms the bedrock for informed decisions on road signage, speed limits, and allocation of transportation budgets. Based on these insights, municipalities can fine-tune their traffic management strategies, ensuring that road systems remain efficient and safe for all road users.
Road Tubes: Beyond Just Counting
While the primary function of these pneumatic road tubes is traffic counting, their utility extends far beyond mere enumeration.3 These inconspicuous instruments serve as multi-dimensional data collectors, playing a pivotal role in enhancing our road infrastructure and ensuring smooth traffic flow.
The U.S. Department of Transportation sheds light on the operational intricacies of these tubes. When a vehicle’s tires traverse the rubber tube, a burst of air pressure is generated, closing an air switch that sends an electrical signal to a counter device. These tubes can be set up either as temporary or permanent installations, each serving distinct purposes. Temporary configurations, often lasting only a day, offer quick glimpses into traffic dynamics, while permanent setups provide continuous, in-depth monitoring.
Transportation agencies strategically position these black cables in areas with minimal interference, targeting straight stretches of road for optimal data collection. Through single-tube setups, agencies can gauge vehicle counts and time gaps between vehicles. When utilizing paired tubes, the system delves into the intricacies of traffic, capturing axle count, direction, and speed.
These unassuming tubes also step in when urban road management faces challenges. If residents raise concerns about speeding or shortcutting, these tubes are deployed to investigate and validate claims. The data they generate contributes to the formulation of transportation budgets and the implementation of effective solutions.
In conclusion, the next time you encounter those mysterious black cables stretching across the road, you can appreciate the intricate web of data they weave behind the scenes. These unassuming instruments serve as silent observers, capturing the heartbeat of our roads and guiding the decisions that shape our transportation landscape. As you pass over these tubes, remember that they are more than meets the eye— they are the pulse of our evolving road networks.
Melissa Sue Anderson, star of ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ speaks of her decision to leave Hollywood for Canada
Melissa Sue Anderson, star of ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ speaks of her decision to leave Hollywood for Canada
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How many times has it happened that you think of an old show you used to love watching and wonder what the actors are doing after so many years? I guess many of you that have seen “Little House on the Prairie” and were eager to see each new adventure of the family living on the farm in Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, would love to know what the actors are up to these days.
Those fans who were fond of the actress playing Mary Ingalls, beautiful Melissa Sue Anderson, were convinced she would continue being part of their life through the small screens, but she had other plans.
Today, she speaks of her decision to leave Hollywood behind and move to Canada.
This actress started her acting career playing guest roles, and had her way into the showbiz when she became one of the central figures of “Little House on the Prairie.” Her acting brought her several nominations for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and her fans knew she deserved it.
Speaking of her experience filming this drama that made her famous, back in 2010, Anderson told Pop Entertainment, “I’m lucky that there even was a character to play, because in the book, there isn’t much of one. Laura [Ingalls, author of the Little House novels upon which the series was based and the story was centered] was a quite older woman when she wrote the books. She was remembering the best of her life. The characters of Ma and Mary didn’t factor in a lot. There was a lot of Laura and Pa and Laura and Jack the dog and Laura and Mr. Edwards, but there wasn’t a lot of Mary. I’m fortunate that they discovered that I could act.”
She tried herself in other minor roles after Mary Ingalls, but then in 1990 she got married to television producer Michael Sloan and moved to Montreal in 2002 with her husband and their two children, daughter Piper and son Griffin.
In 2007, the family became Canadian citizens and with the new life came new commitments, so Anderson decided to let go of the showbiz because she wanted to spend more time with her kids and didn’t want them to feel pressured to pursue acting careers themselves.
In an interview with E-Talk, Anderson said, “I really stepped away for a long time. That was really for the kids so they would have their own sense of who they were as opposed to being with me.”
However, Anderson didn’t step back from acting completely, but took small roles over the recent years. Her life-changing experience of being part in a series like “Little House on the Prairie” encouraged her to write a memoir titled The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House.
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