Speed Me Up, Scotty
Chances are you’ve never heard his name. But if you live in L.A., Benjamin Chan controls your day. He can make your commute a nightmare or a walk in the park. The engineer oversees the city’s Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control system four floors below City Hall East. In this futuristic hideaway, computers spit out information about 3,300 intersections while huge monitors display traffic snarls beamed instantaneously from overhead cameras and underground sensors. It’s up to Chan, 49, to make sure traffic flows 365 days a year. It’s no easy job.
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Q Can you give us an idiot’s guide to Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control?
A We receive signal information from the field. We filter it. We analyze it. And if we need to, we make the changes. It’s the control center.
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Q How does it feel to control the movements of 4 million people?
A Great. I love it. There are not many engineers in the country who have the power that not only I have but the people around here have. You can actually make changes instantaneously.
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Q What are the fastest-moving east-west streets in the city?
A Adams Boulevard. Or Venice Boulevard. If you drive around 25 to 30 miles an hour, you should hit a lot of the signals.
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Q What’s the worst intersection in L.A.?
A I would say Wilshire-Sepulveda, Wilshire- Veteran--the Westwood area.
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Q When a traffic jam pops up on your screen, what do you do?
A We determine the cause and swing into action. We change signal timing or deploy traffic officers to stop people from clogging up intersections.
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Q Even with this ATSAC system, as sophisticated as it is, can you solve traffic problems?
A We’re getting to a point of diminishing returns. Maybe by 2050 or 2060, we’ll have to automate the vehicle itself. Each lane would have more and more cars. Cars would follow each other much, much closer.
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Q Is that possible without having all kinds of fender benders?
A I’m sure they would test it first before they put it on land. They wouldn’t get it out and [say], “Why don’t we just go out and have a joy ride.”
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Q The city is undergoing a $150-million upgrade to its traffic lights. What will that pay for?
A We’re expanding ATSAC by 1,100 intersections, so that it will reach the entire city. We’re talking about 4,400 signalized intersections from the West Valley to San Pedro and purchasing new hardware, the latest technology. It’s a big deal.
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Q The perception is street lights are not synchronized, that it’s one red light after another. What should drivers do for a smoother ride?
A Drive below the posted limits. That will help them get through more intersections, but certainly not all. You are bound to stop when you approach major intersections during peak driving times because there simply is not enough green time to cover all the traffic in all directions.
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Q We’re four stories below ground, but this place feels very alive with computer screens flashing. Do you ever feel like Captain Kirk?
A I’m more like Spock. The guy in the room who tries to fix up little things here and there.
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Q Well, Spock was smarter than Kirk. He was the brains behind the operation, right?
A I’m more of a tinkerer.
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Q Do you ever sit here on a long day and just feel like making all the lights go red?
A You want the truth? If I could, I’d make it try to go green all the time. For one day, people would call and thank us. You know, “Thank you, you did a great job. Thank you very much.”