Opticom has arrived in South San Francisco. Opticom is a traffic signal priority system that allows emergency response vehicles to control an intersection through a strobe unit on the apparatus. This system gives an emergency vehicle the ability to change a red light to a green light, allowing for the safest situation for the responding units and the public and also allows for the best possible response time. The signal can be activated from as far away as 2500 feet, allowing motorists ample time to stop; allowing for the intersection to be cleared by the time the emergency vehicle arrives. The strobe can only be activated by the air brakes releasing, the master switch on the apparatus light bar is activated and the unit itself is turned on. All three steps must occur simultaneously for the system to work, and this would only be the case during a Code 3 response. Opticom has been in existence for over twenty years and is currently used in many large metropolitan cities.
Currently, we have units installed and operating at: Hickey and Hilton, Hickey and Camaritas, El Camino and Costco, El Camino at Westborough, Chestnut at Antoinette, East Grand at Littlefield, South Spruce at North Canal, South Spruce at South Canal, East Grand at Littlefield and South Spruce at Mayfair. Additional units are being installed and nearing completion at El Camino at BART, El Camino at McLellan Drive, McLellan at Mission and McLellan at Hillside. We are also looking to install units in the Gateway Development response area and the El Camino corridor.
Retired Fire Engineer Jim Hale had been the lead person on the project for the fire department and received a Lion’s Club nomination for his efforts on this project in 2000.