Parks Canada is testing camera technology at the east entrance to Banff National Park in a bid to find a way to get better information on the number of vehicles and visitors.
It’s been installed on the overhead entry signage to the park for the past couple of weeks, sparking outrage on social media from visitors and residents who thought it was a speed camera as it flashed as they drove by.
“It is not a speed related camera,” said Greg Danchuk, visitor experience manager for Banff National Park, noting the only speed-related device there is the flashing electronic road sign that flashes the speed of approaching vehicles.
“What’s been temporarily installed on the new gantry is a test of technology of basically counting vehicles and to more effectively gather vehicle information. There are no real plans yet on how we will use that information.”
AECOM, an independent provider of engineering, consulting and project management services for infrastructure projects, is doing the work. The technology being tested for the park does have licence plate recognition capability.
There have long been in-ground road counters on the west side of the gates “basically counting axles”, said Danchuk.
“Right now, we only get information from that every two months,” he said.
“And what we’ve recently installed is just seeing if it’s technology we can use to more accurately count vehicles and people coming through the park.”
