The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is installing lidar sensors across 160 state intersections to monitor and manage municipal traffic flows. The deployment will be carried out by transit supplier Econolite.

The state will deploy digital lidar sensors manufactured by Ouster. The units have a 360-degree field of view to detect vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians at distances up to 500 feet, enabling traffic signals to adapt in real time to roadway conditions.

UDOT manages over 1,300 traffic signals. The new sensors will integrate with existing traffic control cabinets and signal controllers to adjust pedestrian walk durations and clear no-turn-on-red signals when crosswalks are empty.

The system uses Physical AI to classify roadway users and generate real-time analytics. The system actively blurs the images of pedestrians at the edge-computing level to maintain privacy without compromising traffic data.

“Lidar can generate real-time detection, classification and tracking of pedestrians and cyclists,” said Asad Lesani, Vice President of Global ITS Solutions at Ouster.