May 13, 2013. Sverdlovsk Region Government ruled that a number of automated weather monitoring terminals should be installed on the biggest highways to enhance the road traffic safety. The terminals provide relevant data on the current weather conditions as well as the condition of the road surface and help make efficient decisions on road-building or fixing, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Department reports.

According to experts from the region’s Highway Administration, the system is a multi-functional one and allows not only for collecting data on weather and road surface conditions but also for keeping track of the total number of vehicles in each lane and of the average speed of the traffic flow, for determining the start and end time of a traffic jam, and for a timely reaction to the changing weather conditions and informing the contractors of the need to take action.

There are currently seven such terminals on Sverdlovsk Region-based biggest highways that transmit information online onto the Highway Administration’s consolidated data acquisition server.