Last month the Department of Transportation for the City of San Jose began a year-long installation program to replace and upgrade the security measures of their traffic signal and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) cabinets. After a thorough review, the city went with ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions — Critical Infrastructure (AAGS-C).

“After contacting several possible vendor partners, we focused on a locking device that not only would be very difficult to access but something that was unique,” said Darren Thai, an associate engineer with the City of San Jose’s Department of Transportation for the last seven years. He is a member of the ITS group, which is responsible for connecting the city with the latest network communication traffic technology including surveillance cameras and video detection.

Following a half-day training session with AAGS-CI’s system integration partner, Western Pacific Signal, installation of the 75481 series traffic enclosure lock has begun on 2,000 cabinets as part of the department’s implementation plan.

Known as the capital of Silicon Valley, San Jose is a progressive city and the largest in northern California. For three years in the mid 1800s, it functioned as the state’s capital. Now it is home to more than 6,000 technology companies, and more cutting edge developments originate there than anywhere else in the world. 

Located on the southern edge of San Francisco Bay, San Jose has quickly grown to become the 12th largest city in the United States with almost one million residents. It is also the fourth largest city in California with a land size of 180 square miles, including approximately 400 miles of city streets.

San Jose is regarded as one of the safest cities in North America, due in part to the efforts by the Department of Transportation. The organization employs more than 450 people to plan, develop, operate and maintain transportation facilities, services and related systems, including the city’s traffic infrastructure.

Since ITS cabinets are located on roadsides and highways, they are readily accessible and damage to them usually results in heavy financial and recovery losses.

Thai mentioned another important feature to the solution is having both mechanical and electromechanical lock cylinders deployed at different access points throughout the city. This is a cost savings benefit for traffic cabinet security upgrades because typically, fewer than half of ITS cabinets are situated at high priority sites that require more expensive digital locks. The affordable high security mechanical locks fulfill security requirements for most other access points, offering significant savings over an all-digital locking system.

The electromechanical option of the 75481 series supports electronic access control, key tracking and audit trails with ABLOY’s CLIQ Web Manager software. Access rights can be updated and lost keys can be deleted electronically. Both locks also come with a built-in dust cover that protects the cylinder from grime and moisture, a key feature given the city’s high traffic volume and weather conditions. 

The team at Western Pacific Signal assisted with training and software set-up before placement of the locks began throughout the city. Don Shupp founded the San Leandro-based company 25 years ago, and he and his brother, Danny, distribute a wide variety of products as a systems integrator in the Advanced Transport Systems arena to customers along the entire Pacific coast. They have supplied network field devices to the City of San Jose since 2002.

Thai said by the time the installation is completed, the replacement project will involve about 1,000 intersections.