Columbia County Traffic Engineering has partnered with EMTRAC Systems to design and implement a mobile application for small vehicles (i.e. motorcycles and bicycles) to help improve and ease traffic congestion throughout the county. Columbia County is the first place in the United States to release this application to the public. The mobile application is known as Ride on Time Columbia County, and is available for a free download in the Apple and Google stores for iOS and Android.

The mobile application has been designed to initiate phase sequence for the county’s traffic signals. As a small vehicle enters the detection zone, or virtual loop, of a traffic signal, it will send a notification to the intersection for triggering a green light. As part of the pre-emption system, the Ride on Time Columbia County app will not necessarily trigger a green light for the motorist, but will ensure they are skipped during a traffic phase. In addition, the mobile app will increase rider safety on the county’s roadways as they will not have to be making an illegal turn while waiting on the signal to change.

Ride on Time Columbia County will work at all equipped intersections throughout the county and has a thirty minute run-time before the user has to start the app again. The user’s phone will vibrate once they have entered the detection zone as long as their location services are on so that they are aware they have been recognized by the signal.

The EMTRAC Priority Management System uses precise navigation technology and secure RF communication to detect equipped transit, emergency, and municipal vehicles and to place priority or preemption requests to intersection signal-control equipment. For over 25 years. the EMTRAC system has been used throughout North America to help first-response and transit vehicles get to their destination both quickly and safely. EMTRAC staff members have extensive experience in traffic and transit management.