Ramp Metering

Strategies for Enforcement

Scout has been coordinating with law enforcement agencies to create a strategy for ramp metering enforcement. Strategies from across the country involve:

• Requiring the penalty for violating a meter to be the same as that for violating a red light at a signalized intersection.
  
  
• Monitoring metering and reporting high violation areas to the appropriate agencies.
  
  
• Installing "tattle-tale" indicators on the back of the signal heads to support enforcement downstream.
  
  
• Indentifying an enforcement area with each ramp meter to provide a safe observation point from which officers can monitor the ramp meters and issue citations without impacting ramp traffic.
  
  
• Coordinating an enforcement schedule.

Discrete Monitoring

Ramp meters work and look similar to traffic signals and drivers must obey them. Tattle-tale indicators allow law enforcement officials the ability to discretely monitor the ramp meters. The indicator shines a white light when the ramp meter signal is red. The light stops shining when the signal changes to green.

Each indicator is equipped with a sun visor and can project light in any environment. In normal conditions an indicator can be viewed from up to 300 feet away. Monitoring law enforcement officials can view the indicator's light from the rear view mirrors of their cars as they are parked in enforcement areas.