MARIETTA, GA — One Cobb County city is using new technology to help keep traffic moving around railroad crossings.

New sensors have been installed at four railroad crossings in Marietta to alert drivers when a train is approaching, allowing them to adjust their routes and avoid delays.

Garreth Rampel, CEO of tech company Trainfo, said the system detects trains using sound and visual technology.

“That happens in one of two ways, either through sound and the microphones that the sensors have, or through video and through visual detection,” Rampel said.

Rampel said the sensors communicate with each other to track a train’s movement and provide timing details.

“Those sensors will communicate with each other and say there is a train coming, it’s going this fast, it will arrive at the next crossing at this time, it will clear the next crossing at this time,” he said.

The information is then shared with navigation apps, allowing drivers to see route changes and updated arrival times if a train is nearby.

“What a driver will see is a number of things; one, if they’re using Google Maps or Waze, they’ll actually see their route change and their estimated time of arrival change if there is a train nearby,” Rampel said.

Officials said the system also provides alerts to first responders, helping them adjust routes and respond to emergencies more quickly.

“It tells traffic managers similar information to help them adjust their traffic signals and to operate traffic smoother if there is a train in the vicinity,” Rampel said.

The City of Marietta said the implementation has been positive so far and plans are in place to add warning flashers at certain crossings.

WSB Radio’s Jonathan O’Brien contributed to this story.