SCATS meaning in Governmental ?

The Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System, abbreviated SCATS, is an intelligent transportation system that manages the dynamic (on-line, real-time) timing of signal phases at traffic signals, meaning that it tries to find the best phasing (i.e. cycle times, phase splits and offsets) for a traffic situation (for individual intersections as well as for the whole network). SCATS is based on the automatic plan selection from a library in response to the data derived from loop detectors or other road traffic sensors.

SCATS uses sensors at each traffic signal to detect vehicle presence in each lane and pedestrians waiting to cross at the local site. The vehicle sensors are generally inductive loops installed within the road pavement. The pedestrian sensors are usually push buttons. Various other types of sensors can be used for vehicle presence detection, provided that a similar and consistent output is achieved. Information collected from the vehicle sensors allows SCATS to calculate and adapt the timing of traffic signals in the network.

SCATS is installed at about 42,000 intersections in over 1800 cities in 40 countries. In Australia, where the system was first developed, the majority of signalised intersections are SCATS operated (around 11,000).

The SCATS system is owned by the Australian state of New South Wales, whose state capital is Sydney. In December 2019, Transport for NSW, the transport and road agency in New South Wales, began to look into commercialising the SCATS system.