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Adaptive Signal Control AI Company, Rapid Flow Technologies, Joins #FREEtheMIBS
ITS developer says open MIBS are better for customers & vendors, helping them get more
October 28, 2020
Tom Stiles, founding partner of the FREE the MIBs campaign announced today that Rapid Flow Technologies, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania based developer of Surtrac Adaptive Traffic Signal Control, has joined the cause.
Rapid Flow Technologies was founded five years ago out of Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute as part of the Traffic21 research initiative. The company spun out to commercialize its proprietary adaptive signal controls that use artificial intelligence to adjust traffic signals in real time.
Company Founder and Chief Technology Officer Greg Barlow says the campaign goals of opening management information bases or MIBs, mirror Rapid Flow Technologies’ commitment to open standards in the traffic management industry.
“Open MIBs are better for customers and vendors. Closed standards are designed for vendor lock in; but being expert is the biggest lock in you can get.”
Barlow added, “You don’t need those tricks to be a successful incumbent. In reality, being open is not about giving up, but getting more.”
FREEtheMIBs Founding Partner Tom Stiles agreed saying, “Freed MIBs help level the playing field, allowing agencies to select the best solution to meet their unique needs rather than being limited to a single vendor due to compatibility issues or the cost of switching systems. We’re thrilled that Rapid Flow, an influential innovator founded in academics, is advocating for open MIBs with us.”
Barlow, who is a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Traffic Signal Systems Committee, feels strongly that the criticism voiced by opponents, that open MIBs can make agencies more vulnerable to security issues, is inaccurate. “Obscurity is not a solution to security. Security should continue to be managed at its own level. The security argument is a bit of a red herring,” he said. “There are very few industries in which you’re ultimately your own end user and in the end, as intersection users, we are our own customers. We all want our world to be better and things that make that possible are all net positive.”
Rapid Flow Technologies is joining a growing list of influential public and private sector organizations and academic institutions advocating for open MIBs. Those organizations include Q-Free, Siemens, Miovision, Oregon DOT, Utah DOT, and many more.
About FREEtheMIBS
#FREEtheMIBS is a collaborative campaign to encourage traffic signal controller and ITS device manufacturers, and public sector agencies to unite behind opening and sharing device NTCIP protocols – specifically, management information bases (MIBs). To learn more about the freeing the MIBs or to join the movement, visit FREEtheMIBS.org.