Drones deployed to monitor New York State Fair traffic

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Drones will be monitoring weekend traffic conditions at the New York State Fair for the first time.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week that state-of-the-art drone technology will help the state police and Department of Transportation better monitor traffic and parking lot capacity at the Empire Expo Center near Syracuse.

The drones will operate under Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, with a range of about 1 mile (1.61 kilometres).

The Democratic governor says drone research, development and manufacturing are part of a larger initiative to boost economic growth in central New York.

The State Fair began Wednesday and runs through Sept. 4.