1. Intercity Transit TSP Project Deploys EMTRAC
A Multi-Agency, Multi-Technology Success Story
acttrafficsolutions.com
In 2012, the Thurston County Regional Planning Council authorized investment in a
comprehensive Transit Signal Priority (TSP) project along its premier transit corridor. The
primary objectives were to improve transit headways and reliability in order to increase
ridership and ultimately reduce pollution and traffic congestion. The project will ultimately
install TSP-capable technology at 42 intersections owned by five different jurisdictions. In
April 2016 a group of 23 buses and the first group of intersections were equipped with
EMTRAC equipment.
EMTRAC was selected for this
project because of proven
performance on transit projects
across North America. EMTRAC
provides precise vehicle detection at
all times using a combination of GPS
and inertial guidance. This precise
control means that buses will always
be detected at the proper time,
maximizing their mobility while, at
the same time minimizing delays to
other traffic. EMTRAC is also supporting the existing optical emergency vehicle preemption
detectors throughout this system.
The five jurisdictions include the cities of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater, the State of
Washington DOT and Thurston County. These jurisdictions are not uniform in their approach
to traffic signal control. In fact, there is a wide diversity in the types and ages of signal control
cabinets on the project, including several generations of Caltrans (33x) and NEMA cabinets.
Despite this complexity, EMTRAC has been shown to work in each and every style of cabinet.
Interagency cooperation is key to the success of the project and
a focal point of the management team at Intercity Transit.

2. Page 2: Intercity Transit TSP Project Deploys EMTRAC
A Multi-Agency, Multi-Technology Success Story in Olympia, WA
For more information call: (952) 288-4830
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The EMTRAC team assisted Intercity Transit with installations on the buses and at the bus
maintenance facility. Each bus received a Vehicle Computer Unit (VCU) and a dual purpose
antenna. The VCU was permanently mounted in the bus’s equipment cabinet and was
connected to power, the stop request circuit, the door open circuit and the speed sensor (for
inertial guidance). The GPS/RF antenna was installed on the roof and connected to the VCU.
At the maintenance facility an “Interrogator Cabinet” was installed that supports
communicating with the buses to collect logs, monitor system health and upgrade firmware.
EMTRAC also provided Intercity Transit with their advanced Systems Manager software that
is used to set up and monitor the system. Systems
Manager allows each and every intersection and bus to
be programmed uniquely to optimize the performance
of the entire system. It also generates reports that are
crucial for operations personnel and management.
Intersection deployment was straightforward, despite
the variation in controller cabinets. Staff from ACT
Traffic Solutions trained and supported each agency in
this process. Step 1 involved removing the outdated
optical preemption cards and installing an EMTRAC
Priority Detector. Step 2 was installing the RF antenna
either on or near the cabinet. The final step was programming the traffic signal controllers to
accept the TSP signals (this was done by others). Agencies will be able to monitor the health
of the TSP system directly and will also receive periodic reports from Intercity Transit on the
activity at each intersection.
ACT Traffic Solutions (ACT) is an exclusive representative for EMTRAC Systems, supporting transit projects
internationally. ACT staff includes traffic engineers and other traffic professionals to assist with system
design, programming and deployment. ACT offers over 50 years of
combined traffic experience from their office in Chanhassen, MN.