Burlington COMPASS System

The Burlington COMPASS System was installed in 1986 for the purpose of alleviating traffic congestion, particularly during construction activities and peak traffic times on the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway. It soon proved its worth by enabling operators to quickly detect traffic slowdowns, disabled vehicles and collisions. The result was a reduction in traffic congestion, accidents, and delays on the Skyway corridor.

Traffic Management Strategies

The basic components of the Burlington COMPASS System are the same as the other systems. It utilizes the following traffic management strategies:

• Detection and Confirmation
• Incident Management
• Motorist Advisory

Unique to the Burlington COMPASS System is an interconnection with the lift bridge on the parallel arterial road. In the event of high winds or major incidents, the operator can direct traffic to bypass the Skyway using the lift-bridge and Eastport Drive. A communications link between the lift-bridge operator and the COMPASS control centre allows the operator to know when the bridge will be lifted so that this information can be used in making system bypass decisions and to inform drivers of the lift-bridge status.

As of December 2002, the system consists of 24 CCTV cameras, six fibre-optic/flip-disk changeable message signs and 154 vehicle detector stations.

See also:

• Freeway Traffic Management Systems
• COMPASS Traffic Cameras - QEW