Ouster, a provider of high-performance LiDAR sensors has been awarded a $2 million (£ / €) contract to deploy its BlueCity traffic management solution in Chattanooga, TN. Through this deployment, Ouster aims to improve roadway safety and reduce congestion within the city.

Following a pilot conducted at 12 intersections, the City of Chattanooga will install BlueCity in over 120 intersections, covering the downtown area. The project will more broadly combine digital LiDAR sensors and edge AI at each intersection to manage traffic flow, detect and analyze safety incidents, and provide detection for V2X communications. Ouster BlueCity itself helps deliver more intelligent signal actuation at intersections, while simultaneously generating an analytics data stream that provides traffic operators and city planners with insights into their public corridors.

The solution combines digital LiDAR with perception software and data analytics to create a real-time 3D digital traffic twin of an intersection or road, while automating data collection in the cloud to monitor road events more accurately for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists – enabling quick safety interventions and long-term planning optimizations.

Using deep learning AI perception, Ouster BlueCity delivers reliability and advanced object classification and detection for a range of complex use cases including traffic actuation, near-miss detection, outside of crosswalk events, red light running and wrong-way driving.

The BlueCity solution is today deployed at many intersections worldwide, with further implementations set to roll out as municipalities work to modernize their traffic infrastructure.