Frequently Asked Questions FAQs
What is Kansas City Scout?
Kansas City Scout is Kansas City's bi-state traffic management system. The Kansas and Missouri departments of transportation (KDOT, MoDOT) designed Scout to lessen traffic jams by improving rush-hour speeds, to increase safety by decreasing the number of rush-hour accidents, and to improve emergency response to traffic situations.
Scout manages traffic on more than 125 miles of continuous freeways in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area. Scout uses cameras to monitor the highways from its traffic management center in Lee's Summit, relies on sensors to gage traffic flow, uses large electronic message boards to send urgent traffic notices to drivers along the freeways, and activates a Highway Advisory Radio system that motorists in Missouri can tune to in the event of a freeway incident.
How does Scout affect me?
If you travel on Kansas City's metropolitan freeways, Scout has a direct impact on you. Scout can't control what happens on the roadways, but it can detect and manage various traffic situations on its system. If a freeway lane is blocked for any reason and traffic slows down, Scout will know and respond appropriately. In the event of an accident, a stalled car, or debris in the road, the sooner the response, the sooner the situation is resolved, and the sooner you're on your way.
Scout doesn't promise to relieve congestion and prevent accidents completely, but it is a system designed to keep freeway traffic flowing as smoothly and safely as possible.
Is Scout an AMBER Alert system?
No. Scout is a traffic management tool that uses it technology to alert freeway drivers to problems on the road ahead. However, Scout also uses it message boards to notify drivers of emergency alerts such as evacuations and child abductions (AMBER Alerts).
Scout does not determine whether an AMBER Alert is issued. Locally, those decisions are left to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Kansas City Metro Police Squad, and/or the Missouri Highway Patrol. When either or all of those entities declares an AMBER Alert, they notify local media along with staff at Scout's operations center . Both the media and Scout voluntarily choose to notify the public as quickly as possible.
When Scout receives an official AMBER Alert notification, Scout verifies the information with the agency that issued the AMBER Alert then posts the alert on its freeway message boards.
When does Scout use the electronic message boards?
Primarily, you'll see the big, black message boards lit with information about what is affecting normal traffic flow at that moment. Those message boards are also used for alerts. Below is a current list of common uses of Scout's message boards:
- If one or more lanes of freeway are blocked for any reason.
- If a work zone is in place AND Scout operators are able to monitor the work zone with their cameras (otherwise smaller, portable message boards will continue to warn drivers about work zone lane closures).
- If an AMBER Alert (child abduction) is issued.
- If an Ozone Alert (air quality crisis) is issued.
- If a state or other public emergency or evacuation is issued.
- In the event of severe weather that is impacting traffic at that moment (such as impassable roadways due to flooding, ice, etc. and slow traffic due to heavy snow, tornadic activity, heavy rains, etc.).
- If traffic is unusually heavy for unexplained reasons.
Why does Scout post travel times?
As Kansas City's urban region continues to expand, congestion on the interstates keep growing along with driver frustration. Motorists are tied up in traffic with
little information about the length or extent of the delay they will experience.
Rising to the challenge to empower motorists with real-time travel information and improve the quality of the commuting experience, Kansas City Scout launched Travel Times, a key weapon in congestion management, on January 8, 2007.
Trip time is practical information travelers can use to assess traffic and routes. Motorists can decide early in their commute if they should choose an alternative route because their intended route is too congested. Delivering needed information, Scout with Travel Times allows the commuter the choice to stay the course or adopt a new route.
As an added bonus, commuters can log on to Scout's website before leaving home to determine and/or adjust departure time based on Travel Time information.
Will the cameras on the highways be used to catch speeders and aggressive drivers?
No. Scout is not a law enforcement tool. However, Scout believes the presence of law enforcement and other traffic and emergency services inside its management center is helpful to the traveling public. Such partnerships could foster better public service by providing quicker emergency response and creating a safer highway environment.
How will Scout's web site help me with my drive to and from?
Scout's web site will be most useful to you before you head out the door and into rush-hour traffic. With a click of your mouse you'll be able to pull up camera views along the Scout system. You'll be able to see for yourself how well traffic is flowing and where the back-ups are on Scout's routes.
At www.kcscout.net you'll also be able to read Scout's activated message boards to find out what's causing the traffic snarls and where. With that information you can make decisions ahead of time about which path to travel. Or, maybe you'll decide to just sit tight and wait things out.
Scout’s web site also features information about freeway work zone locations in Kansas and Missouri. Knowing where the work zones are before you head out on the road could make a big difference in the route you choose or in determining your delay time.
Why doesn't the Scout system cover all of I-435 or I-70 and other busy freeways in the Kansas City area?
KDOT and MoDOT joined forces to launch the bi-state, Scout system so they could cover the most congested freeways in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area. Studies revealed which freeways are the most heavily traveled, and those are the freeways Scout currently blankets.
There are other congested freeways the studies also identified. Scout will eventually cover those as funding allows. One example is I-70. Originally, Scout stretched only as far east as Noland Road. By the end of the 2005, Scout expanded seven miles farther east to Blue Springs.
Scout is also planning expansions along I-635 in Kansas from I-35 to State Avenue; along I-435 in Missouri from near the Triangle to possibly beyond the Missouri River; and along I-29 north of Scout’s current coverage.
Each of these expansion projects are in various stages and are scheduled to be completed at various times between late 2007 and late 2008.
How much did Kansas City Scout cost, and who's paying for it?
The project's cost was $43 million.
Of that amount, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) contributed 80-90 percent of the project cost. KDOT and MoDOT shared the remaining cost.
At $43 million for an initial 75-mile project, Scout's deployment costs average $573 thousand per mile. That compares to a conservative $3-$6 million cost per mile for a single, new lane of roadway.
Why are KDOT and MoDOT spending money on a traffic management system?
Inadequate funding and, in some cases, inadequate room to widen roadways increasingly prohibit new construction and lane additions. Still, the demand from freeway travelers continues. As Kansas City's driving population grows, traffic issues such as congestion, accidents, and air pollution become even more prevalent. In many states, technology and traffic management have become the answer. For Kansas City, the answer is Scout.