First Solar Powered Traffic Sign Installed in California

Oct. 6, 2010 - PRLog -- ON THE SAME DAY the Obama administration announced that they are going to put SOLAR PANELS on the First Family's living quarters, returning to a tradition begun by president Jimmy Carter and abandoned by Ronald Reagan... California got its first SOLAR POWERED LED TRAFFIC SIGN.

On Tuesday October 5th the City of Santa Monica's Transportation Management Division installed a TAPCO solar powered LED flashing stop sign at the intersection of Olympic Drive and Avenida Mazatlan. The new sign was installed on the southwest corner facing eastbound traffic.  The purpose of this new sign is to increase the visibility of the STOP sign for eastbound motorists.

The intersection of Olympic Drive and Avenida Mazatlan is a very busy intersection located directly between City Hall, the Public Safety Facility, the County Courthouse, and the Civic Center Parking Structure.  There are constant pedestrian crossings throughout the day, and the intersection is directly adjacent to the 4th Street on-ramp for I-10 eastbound.  As an all-way STOP controlled intersection, the City has continuously monitored driver adherence to the existing STOP signs.  In response to observed driver infractions (e.g., the infamous “California rolling stop”), as well as complaints from pedestrians regarding vehicles not properly stopping, the City is installing a new high visibility flashing STOP sign.

PHOTOS: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/zK6YP8gd
VIDEO: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgjrw95j_1174gn22nvf4

The City will monitor driver behavior and compliance following the installation of the new flashing STOP sign.  Should the sign prove effective and reduce the incidents of driver non-compliance, the City will likely pursue the installation of similar devices throughout the City.

The sign operates on solar power and requires no additional power connection.  The device is made by Tapco, Inc. and more information can be found at their website: http://www.tapconet.com/store/category/2e75b275-a044-4b1f...

Thank you,

Sam Morrissey, P.E.
Principal Transportation Engineer
Transportation Management Division
City of Santa Monica

TAPCO - West Coast Sales Director
Vanilla Fire Productions - CEO
Steven C. Barber
(310) 806-5833
stevencbarber@gmail.com

TAPCO, a $40,000,000+ dollar-a-year traffic and parking control company has landed SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S FIRST SOLAR POWERED STOP SIGN installed on Tuesday, Oct 5th, 2010 at 9am in Santa Monica.

A story came out the day before in the USA TODAY about the good work that TAPCO is doing around the WORLD. Filming the installation of the first SOLAR POWERED BLINKING STOP SIGN was award winning Santa Monica Filmmaker Steven C. Barber and "Green T" of GreenTwithTamara.TV who is also the co-host of the Los Angeles TV show "Metro Motion" and a reporter for Santa Monica City TV.

These blinking stop signs SAVE LIVES!! They cut "blow through" down by 95%! When people see the stop signs blinking THEY STOP as if it were a RED LIGHT! TAPCO has the WORLD WIDE PATENT on this amazing sign, and CEO Rick Berholtz is responsible for SAVING thousands of lives in the last 50 years!

The un-sung heroes in America are the Traffic and Parking Control companies like TAPCO that are always innovating and showing the rest of the world what can be done!!

Green Is A Priority
LED products are not only innovative, they are green as well, Rick Bergholz said, requiring far less energy to function and, in many cases, using solar power. Green has become a priority for TAPCO, allowing the company to meet demand for sustainable products and to give customers ways to reduce energy consumption. Its sustainable focus is especially seen in materials it uses. Signposts are made from recycled steel, for example, with Bergholz estimating the posts uses about one million pounds of recycled steel each year.
Speed bumps and car stops are another example – both made from recycled rubber and plastic, such as the plastic from milk jugs.
“Recycling only works when there are markets for recycled materials,” he said. “We’re creating that demand, and at the same time giving our customers the green solutions they are looking for.” "Green T" of GreenTwithTamara.TV is the spokesperson for TAPCO.