To celebrate its past and its future, GTT is asking for memorable stories of your Opticom system in action.
Please send your Opticom story by clicking the link below.
To celebrate its past and its future, GTT is asking for memorable stories of your Opticom system in action.
Please send your Opticom story by clicking the link below.
Over 50 years ago, inventor and engineer, William Long, used his experience with military developments on ship-to-ship optical communication devices to start to envision a way to remotely control traffic signals. As part of Light Energy Systems, Inc. (LES), Long traveled the US with colleague G. Wayne King demonstrating the Mark I and II Opticom units. The first sale of an Opticom system was to Buena Park, Ca in June 1966. While the actual first sale of Opticom was in 1966, the acquisition of LES to 3M in July 1968 is what led to a greater commercialization of Opticom, and the foundation for it legacy today.
Over 50 years ago, inventor and engineer, William Long, used his experience with military developments on ship-to-ship optical communication devices to start to envision a way to remotely control traffic signals. As part of Light Energy Systems, Inc. (LES), Long traveled the US with colleague G. Wayne King demonstrating the Mark I and II Opticom units. The first sale of an Opticom system was to Buena Park, Ca in June 1966. While the actual first sale of Opticom was in 1966, the acquisition of LES to 3M in July 1968 is what led to a greater commercialization of Opticom, and the foundation for it legacy today.
Within 3M’s portfolio, Opticom had much more exposure and resources. Just outside of the 3M corporate headquarters, Opticom began to be installed at intersections around St. Paul, Minnesota and in the vehicles of the St. Paul police department, which quickly saw the value in emergency vehicle preemption.
Retired St. Paul Police Department senior commander Edward Steenberg recalled 3M marketing the product to other departments by hosting them at their campus. Steenberg said he’d take the visiting officers out to lunch in his Opticom-equipped car.
“I’d drive them through St. Paul and they’d see nothing but green lights,” Steenberg said.
During his 50-plus years of police work, Steenberg also trained with the U.S. Secret Service in Washington, D.C. At one training session in the early years of Opticom, Steenberg recalled a session where they were allocating officers for a presidential motorcade.
One of the Secret Service members pulled Steenberg aside and told him he knew about Opticom and that his team should use that in exercise. When it came time to present, Steenberg’s group had more officers than they needed because they didn’t have to manually block or control intersections, thanks to Opticom.
“They all learned what Opticom could do for us — how valuable it could be to a department,” Steenberg said. “They had never experienced that before.”
Within 3M’s portfolio, Opticom had much more exposure and resources. Just outside of the 3M corporate headquarters, Opticom began to be installed at intersections around St. Paul, Minnesota and in the vehicles of the St. Paul police department, which quickly saw the value in emergency vehicle preemption.
Retired St. Paul Police Department senior commander Edward Steenberg recalled 3M marketing the product to other departments by hosting them at their campus. Steenberg said he’d take the visiting officers out to lunch in his Opticom-equipped car.
“I’d drive them through St. Paul and they’d see nothing but green lights,” Steenberg said.
During his 50-plus years of police work, Steenberg also trained with the U.S. Secret Service in Washington, D.C. At one training session in the early years of Opticom, Steenberg recalled a session where they were allocating officers for a presidential motorcade.
One of the Secret Service members pulled Steenberg aside and told him he knew about Opticom and that his team should use that in exercise. When it came time to present, Steenberg’s group had more officers than they needed because they didn’t have to manually block or control intersections, thanks to Opticom.
“They all learned what Opticom could do for us — how valuable it could be to a department,” Steenberg said. “They had never experienced that before.”
Since its creation, Opticom has been considered a critical, lifesaving technology.
In November of 1969, Popular Science magazine published “Fire Engine has Built-in Traffic Cop” promoting the features and functionality of Opticom.*
Since then developers at 3M and Global Traffic Technologies have reimagined ways to make Opticom even more reliable and powerful. Notable breakthroughs include:
To continue the pioneering efforts set forth by the creators of Opticom, GTT is now looking to help communities use technology to become smarter. As one of the first providers of vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communications, GTT’s solutions are helping to change the way entire cities move.
GTT has become a trusted advisor to more than 3,100 cities around the world, a testament to its commitment to tireless innovation and the total assurance provided with every solution.
GTT’s vision now is to provide a clear path to smarter mobility by empowering people to get from where they are to where they want to be.
As GTT drives the transition to smarter, safer mobility, its solutions for cities continue to evolve. The next generation of priority control removes the hassle of procurement and installation and makes preemption easy and affordable. With Opticom™ Priority Control as a Service (PCaaS), customers get all the benefits of an Opticom system without having to worry about the details.
To continue the pioneering efforts set forth by the creators of Opticom, GTT is now looking to help communities use technology to become smarter. As one of the first providers of vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communications, GTT’s solutions are helping to change the way entire cities move.
GTT has become a trusted advisor to more than 3,100 cities around the world, a testament to its commitment to tireless innovation and the total assurance provided with every solution.
GTT’s vision now is to provide a clear path to smarter mobility by empowering people to get from where they are to where they want to be.
As GTT drives the transition to smarter, safer mobility, its solutions for cities continue to evolve. The next generation of priority control removes the hassle of procurement and installation and makes preemption easy and affordable. With Opticom™ Priority Control as a Service (PCaaS), customers get all the benefits of an Opticom system without having to worry about the details.
*Image Source: Popular Science, November 1969