Waycross is exploring a digital remedy for the headaches that arise from blocked rail crossings.
The Waycross City Commission last week heard a presentation from a Virginiabased company that transmits information on crossings to motorists in real time. Andrea McClellan, herself a former member of city government in Norfolk, Va., developed “Oculus Rail” to monitor train traffic after hearing from her constituents in the busy port city on the Atlantic coastline.
“It’s an issue, near and dear to my heart,” said Mc-Clellan, who said she served more than eight years on Norfolk’s City Council.
Describing herself as a “recovering entrpreneur,” Mc-Clellan said it wasn’t until she realized the train traffic problems in Norfolk and other cities in Virginia’s Hampton Roads Area was actually a national problem that she started exploring something to help motorists deal with the headaches of blocked crossings after leaving her council post.
The result is a solar-powered, wireless sensor stationed on a pole at a crossing to capture and transmit activity in real time to an application for a phone. The app has a dashboard customizeable to suit the needs of the client, McClellan said.
She said the device doesn’t require railroad permission to be erected.
It also stores all its data for later use, with any local transportation studies and decision presenting to the railway to illustrate the impact of their traffic.
McClellan said the cost of the system is $5,000 per year, with installation of the units about $1,500. The one-time cost of the sensors is cheaper the more you have initially, said Waycross City Manager Ulysses “Duke” Rayford, who said he had tested the app for its efficiency at some of the 40 Hampton Roads locations.
McClellan said notification of activity at a crossing is available automatically to the app. She also said users could provide information of crossing traffic where there isn’t a sensor.
She said service contracts ideally are for three to five years, but the business is open to one-year deals with a two- to three-year renewal clause.
A minimum of five sensors is recommended for a contract.
With more than five dozen crossings in the city, Rayford said 10 sensors would be a good start. He said decisions on the locations would come following predictive analysis of crossings.
Rayford said the city wouldn’t necessarily have to be alone in absorbing costs, alluding to more than 100 crossings between the city and Ware County. He also mentioned the numerous crossings in surrounding cities and counties.
Mayor Michael-Angelo James also presented the possibility of grants targeted toward transportation issues, mentioning the Southern Georgia Regional Commission.
The crossing issue and remedies will be agenda items at the city’s planning retreat next month.
