All Green Lights Ahead With McCain's QuicTrac Adaptive Control Software

No More Stop-and-Go Traffic on Busy City Corridors


VISTA, CA--(Marketwire - May 3, 2010) -  McCain Inc., a leading manufacturer and supplier of traffic, parking and transit management solutions, announced the successful release and deployment of QuicTrac adaptive signal control software, used to reduce traffic congestion on busy corridors. This announcement is made in conjunction with the 2010 ITS America tradeshow in Houston, Texas where McCain will demonstrate the technology at booth #117.

Red lights on busy city corridors are a thing of the past

Busy corridors, especially during peak travel times, yield traffic congestion, slower travel times, and unbalanced traffic flow. McCain's adaptive control technology, QuicTrac, is a software system developed to alleviate such problems on high-volume arterials. The system coordinates optimum traffic signal timing to expedite large platoons of vehicles through the corridor quickly and efficiently.

QuicTrac relies on field detectors, either loop or video, located at the intersections to establish and communicate prevailing traffic conditions to the software. The software collects data from the entire corridor, calculates optimum signal lengths, and then distributes new cycle lengths to the controllers along the arterial creating "all green lights ahead." By adapting to real-time traffic demand, QuicTrac results in reduced traffic congestion and expedited travel times.

"Adaptive control software isn't new to the traffic industry, especially in Europe," states Steve Brown, director of technical services at McCain Inc. "With the increase in population and emphasis of going green in the United States we are seeing a major shift in the market and more demands on adaptive software."

QuicTrac goes live in March 2010

McCain deployed QuicTrac on the second highest volume arterial in San Diego County, San Marcos Boulevard, on March 28, 2010. Over the past 10 years San Marcos has experienced a 50 percent growth in population which prompted the city to seek out solutions to help move traffic down their busiest corridor. After much research and consideration, the City of San Marcos selected McCain's QuicTrac solution.

"On a heavily traveled regional arterial with limited operational options, QuicTrac is proving to be a powerful tool -- opening the upper range of traffic management capabilities," states Jason Stack, principal of Stack Consulting, Inc. and lead project manager for the San Marcos Boulevard project.

The San Marcos Boulevard project spans approximately 3.6 miles from Mission Rd. to Acacia Dr. and coordinates 17 signals directly on and four adjacent to the corridor. While final data is not yet available on the impact of the system, based on soft system findings, the system is proving to be a success and Stack is currently in the design process to deploy adaptive technology on other corridors in San Marcos.

About McCain Inc.
McCain Inc. has been providing traffic related solutions to businesses and municipalities for over 25 years. McCain's products and services are widely trusted across the U.S. and around the world to safely guide millions of motorists from point A to point B through the use of transportation, parking and freeway/incident management systems. This privately held organization has experienced solid growth during the past two decades and currently employs over 500 people throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.mccain-inc.com.

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Angela MB Hill
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