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Even better, the "MI Drive" site (for Michigan road conditions) actually shows live webcam footage from many (all?) of the DOT plows. This is valuable during t

Even better, the "MI Drive" site (for Michigan road conditions) actually shows live webcam footage from many (all?) of the DOT plows. This is valuable during the winter to see the road conditions outside of areas like metro Detroit or Grand Rapids (which have fixed road cameras). https://mdotjboss.state.mi.us/MiDrive/map?plows=true https://mdotjboss.state.mi.us/MiDrive/map?plows=true EDIT: I mostly drive between Grand Rapids and Lansing, and I haven't looked in a while, but there are actually a lot of fixed cameras on major highways now, even outside metro areas: https://mdotjboss.state.mi.us/MiDrive/map?cameras=true https://mdotjboss.state.mi.us/MiDrive/map?cameras=true

whalesalad 5y ago
Love watching the plows during a storm and seeing the live updates on their state: salting, plowing, etc.
LegitShady 5y ago
the "Transportation" name for those fixed camera systems are "Rwis" (Road Weather Information System) stations. Definitely check them out before you highway drive but also be aware that changing weather conditions can make roads slippery or otherwise dangerous. The plow cameras and sensors (plow position, salt/aggregate activity, etc) are more useful for transportation operations staff to know what's been plowed and what still needs plowing but technically do take pictures of the whole highway instead of just the rwis stations.
- earleybird 5y ago
  Worked on this one some time ago[0]. Webcams are a big reason folks come to the site. Clicking on the "Princeton" icon get you a popup of the current image and clicking on that gets you the detail page[1]. On the detail page there is a "Replay the day" button which will "card flip" the images for the last 24hrs to give you a sense of what conditions have been like (no time machine yet :-) ). Site went live back in 2005 with the current look appearing around about 2009 (memory is getting fuzzy). Baseline network activity on a typical day ran about 4 MByte/sec continuous; on "snow days"[2] the load increases an order of magnitude to 24 MByte/second. That was 5+ years ago - I expect there's been growth since then. [0] https://drivebc.ca/#mapView&z=11&ll=49.485664%2C-120.367187 https://drivebc.ca/#mapView&z=11&ll=49.485664%2C-120.367187 [1] https://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/dbc/452.html https://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/dbc/452.html [2] "Snow day" might be "the Coquihalla is getting about 50cm over the next 12 hours"
- avs733 5y ago
  today I learned the name of RWIS cameras. I actually used one recently. My wife was caught in a traffic jam due to an accident/car fire. I was able to actually find a visual of her car on the highway from my laptop. She had our baby in the car who was screaming and I was able to narrate what was happening with the accident - which gave her enough time to change a diaper while stopped and then get safely back in the driver seat before traffic started moving.
SkyPuncher 5y ago
This is fantastic! My wife and I often drive US-2. It can be a gamble in inclement weather. This is really helpful for understanding conditions in the lesser traveled parts of the state.
Blackthorn 5y ago
That's a fantastic use of IT in government. Props to whoever came up with that idea and the group that implemented it.
- ReactiveJelly 5y ago
  "Why don't we open up the feeds from ALPR cameras as a limited hang-out?"
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    "because then the citizenry will know how surveilled they are and they might put pressure on politicians to curtail our ability to buy cool tech without voersight" "we'll just downgrade it from 4k to 1080p and we'll only give them access to half of them"
  - myself248 5y ago
    Ehh, the RCOC speed cameras have been open since the early 2000's. I don't think they have the resolution nor the bandwidth for ALPR, but they're supremely useful for checking traffic. I get more from a visual than from colored streets on a map. http://www2.rcocweb.org/TrafficWebNT/Index.html http://www2.rcocweb.org/TrafficWebNT/Index.html
snazz 5y ago
MnDOT offers similar services (plow and fixed cameras, along with lots of other traffic information) for Minnesota as well: https://511mn.org https://511mn.org. If you're really bored, it can be fun to track incoming snowstorms across all of the fixed cameras in a certain direction!
sandworm101 5y ago
The public information is an afterthought. Cameras on plows are a liability thing. Plows often hit things they simply cannot see, stuff covered in snow. But after a collision is is very hard to determine what if anything was under the snow prior to impact. There is no way to really avoid this problem while still plowing. So cameras protect the city/state/driver by showing what things looked like from the driver's perspective. That the streams are shared with the public is a bonus.
- notatoad 5y ago
  it being an afterthought is, imho, what makes it so excellent. the attitude of "we collected this data, might as well make it public" is exactly how governments should operate.
- k12sosse 5y ago
  Ontario Canada, here. MIs neighbour to the East. My city has two persons in the cab, one is the driver, one is the spotter. The spotter really just calls audibles on the stuff they see. It's cheaper to hire that spotter than pay the insurance for single operator scenarios. We can get some heavy snow days, the kind that make everything come to a standstill until things are cleared by these hulking beasts (kudos for naming one plow "hulk"). Having access to this information would be awesome. Not surprising the home of the motor city would (appear) have their road clearing under control.
  - sandworm101 5y ago
    Most terrifying moment I ever had a car was passing a plow+sand trailer on the colloquial highway (BC). He was plowing the right lane and I was following semi trucks passing in the relatively clear left lane. Right as I got beside the plow's trailer it jackknifed 45 degrees away from me. I though we were all going to die in a huge pileup. But it turned out to be one of these. I had seen them many times. I had never seen one engage the second plow while going 60mph. I did not know they could do it on the move. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJEgkbq_b2Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJEgkbq_b2Q
aghilmort 5y ago
yeah, @DriveSpotter worked with some snowplow fleets for a bit -- some states are way ahead of others on sharing cam & coverage data!

whalesalad 5y ago

Love watching the plows during a storm and seeing the live updates on their state: salting, plowing, etc.

LegitShady 5y ago

the "Transportation" name for those fixed camera systems are "Rwis" (Road Weather Information System) stations. Definitely check them out before you highway drive but also be aware that changing weather conditions can make roads slippery or otherwise dangerous. The plow cameras and sensors (plow position, salt/aggregate activity, etc) are more useful for transportation operations staff to know what's been plowed and what still needs plowing but technically do take pictures of the whole highway instead of just the rwis stations.

earleybird 5y ago
Worked on this one some time ago[0]. Webcams are a big reason folks come to the site. Clicking on the "Princeton" icon get you a popup of the current image and clicking on that gets you the detail page[1]. On the detail page there is a "Replay the day" button which will "card flip" the images for the last 24hrs to give you a sense of what conditions have been like (no time machine yet :-) ). Site went live back in 2005 with the current look appearing around about 2009 (memory is getting fuzzy). Baseline network activity on a typical day ran about 4 MByte/sec continuous; on "snow days"[2] the load increases an order of magnitude to 24 MByte/second. That was 5+ years ago - I expect there's been growth since then. [0] https://drivebc.ca/#mapView&z=11&ll=49.485664%2C-120.367187 https://drivebc.ca/#mapView&z=11&ll=49.485664%2C-120.367187 [1] https://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/dbc/452.html https://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/pub/html/dbc/452.html [2] "Snow day" might be "the Coquihalla is getting about 50cm over the next 12 hours"
avs733 5y ago
today I learned the name of RWIS cameras. I actually used one recently. My wife was caught in a traffic jam due to an accident/car fire. I was able to actually find a visual of her car on the highway from my laptop. She had our baby in the car who was screaming and I was able to narrate what was happening with the accident - which gave her enough time to change a diaper while stopped and then get safely back in the driver seat before traffic started moving.

SkyPuncher 5y ago

This is fantastic! My wife and I often drive US-2. It can be a gamble in inclement weather. This is really helpful for understanding conditions in the lesser traveled parts of the state.

Blackthorn 5y ago

That's a fantastic use of IT in government. Props to whoever came up with that idea and the group that implemented it.

ReactiveJelly 5y ago
"Why don't we open up the feeds from ALPR cameras as a limited hang-out?"
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  "because then the citizenry will know how surveilled they are and they might put pressure on politicians to curtail our ability to buy cool tech without voersight" "we'll just downgrade it from 4k to 1080p and we'll only give them access to half of them"
- myself248 5y ago
  Ehh, the RCOC speed cameras have been open since the early 2000's. I don't think they have the resolution nor the bandwidth for ALPR, but they're supremely useful for checking traffic. I get more from a visual than from colored streets on a map. http://www2.rcocweb.org/TrafficWebNT/Index.html http://www2.rcocweb.org/TrafficWebNT/Index.html

snazz 5y ago

MnDOT offers similar services (plow and fixed cameras, along with lots of other traffic information) for Minnesota as well: https://511mn.org https://511mn.org. If you're really bored, it can be fun to track incoming snowstorms across all of the fixed cameras in a certain direction!

sandworm101 5y ago

The public information is an afterthought. Cameras on plows are a liability thing. Plows often hit things they simply cannot see, stuff covered in snow. But after a collision is is very hard to determine what if anything was under the snow prior to impact. There is no way to really avoid this problem while still plowing. So cameras protect the city/state/driver by showing what things looked like from the driver's perspective. That the streams are shared with the public is a bonus.

notatoad 5y ago
it being an afterthought is, imho, what makes it so excellent. the attitude of "we collected this data, might as well make it public" is exactly how governments should operate.
k12sosse 5y ago
Ontario Canada, here. MIs neighbour to the East. My city has two persons in the cab, one is the driver, one is the spotter. The spotter really just calls audibles on the stuff they see. It's cheaper to hire that spotter than pay the insurance for single operator scenarios. We can get some heavy snow days, the kind that make everything come to a standstill until things are cleared by these hulking beasts (kudos for naming one plow "hulk"). Having access to this information would be awesome. Not surprising the home of the motor city would (appear) have their road clearing under control.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  Most terrifying moment I ever had a car was passing a plow+sand trailer on the colloquial highway (BC). He was plowing the right lane and I was following semi trucks passing in the relatively clear left lane. Right as I got beside the plow's trailer it jackknifed 45 degrees away from me. I though we were all going to die in a huge pileup. But it turned out to be one of these. I had seen them many times. I had never seen one engage the second plow while going 60mph. I did not know they could do it on the move. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJEgkbq_b2Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJEgkbq_b2Q

aghilmort 5y ago

yeah, @DriveSpotter worked with some snowplow fleets for a bit -- some states are way ahead of others on sharing cam & coverage data!