Skip to main content

BlipTrack monitoring in New Zealand

Danish wireless technology company Blip systems has supplied engineering and technology services provider Beca with its BlipTrack Bluetooth traffic monitoring system, which has been deployed in Waikato, New Zealand. The Te Rapa Bypass project is the first of a planned US$2 billion investment by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) in the Waikato region’s transportation network over the next eight years. The BlipTrack solution has been established in advance of these projects and will continue to assess
January 24, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Danish wireless technology company 3778 Blip Systems has supplied engineering and technology services provider Beca with its BlipTrack Bluetooth traffic monitoring system, which has been deployed in Waikato, New Zealand.

The Te Rapa Bypass project is the first of a planned US$2 billion investment by the 6296 New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) in the Waikato region’s transportation network over the next eight years. The BlipTrack solution has been established in advance of these projects and will continue to assess the benefits of each of these projects as they are completed.

Nine BlipTrack roadside mounted sensors have been installed to monitor travel times and route choices across the Waikato Region, with more units being added as new sections of road are opened.  

BlipTrack uses anonymous Bluetooth devices such as cell phones, headsets and in-car navigation systems to track vehicles and monitor travel times and route preferences.  The Bluetooth address is encrypted in the sensor, making it impossible to relate the information to an individual.

Project manager for the Waikato Expressway, Richard Young says, “We’re extremely pleased with the final result. The new road is delivering real time savings for all motorists, along with making the journey safer. In total it takes about seven minutes off commuters’ journeys each day. That is a significant time saving and also a saving on fuel costs.”

The system has also implemented in other parts of the country, including Wellington and Auckland following the completion of the US$250 million Victoria Park Tunnel in the city, and at Auckland airport, where BlipTrack is used for monitoring pedestrians.
 
Beca’s senior transportation analyst, Chris Vallyon, has been pleased with BlipTrack’s performance.  He says, “The Bluetooth tracking technology provided by Blip Systems provides a significant addition to the suite of technologies available to assist New Zealanders in understanding the performance of their assets and infrastructure. The hardware has proven to be robust enough to survive New Zealand’s volatile weather conditions, and the vendors have been proactive and efficient in creating a highly flexible matching system and then adapting it to suit our specific requirements.  We’re very satisfied with the service we’ve received to date.”

Related Content

  • August 10, 2012
    BlipTrack deployed for travel time measurement in Danish city
    The Danish city of Aarhus, which has the second-largest urban area in Denmark after Copenhagen, has chosen BlipTrack to measure travel time and traffic flow following eight months of thorough testing of the system. The results showed that Blip Systems’ small and non-intrusive Bluetooth solution could offer the same exact information as alternative and more expensive solutions.
  • November 14, 2013
    Bluetooth sensors monitor travel times on Ontario’s busiest highway
    Danish wireless technology company Blip Systems and its Canadian partner G4Apps have installed wireless sensors to help reduce traffic congestion on one of Ontario’s busiest highways, the Queen Elizabeth Way, which averages close to 200,000 vehicles per day. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is using Blip Systems’ combined Bluetooth and wi-fi sensors to verify travel time prediction algorithms. BlipTrack sensor are mounted on posts at strategic points in the road network and detect wireless
  • March 27, 2015
    Electronic tolling coming to New Zealand in 2015
    New Zealand is to implement multi-lane free flow tolling on key routes in Tauranga later this year, with the installation of two high-tech electronic tolling gantries, each with 16 cameras, on Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL) and Route K. The cameras will capture an image of the vehicle’s front and rear registration plates using the latest optical character recognition technology. The cameras will read the registration plates and determine the size of the vehicle and whether it is a motorcycle, car, truck or
  • November 18, 2014
    Blip Systems and Traffic Data Systems partner on traffic management
    Danish IT company Blip Systems has appointed German traffic monitoring specialist Traffic Data Systems as its value added reseller for German-speaking countries. Traffic Data Systems is now offering BlipTrack, a non-intrusive solution that collects, analyses and visualises real-time data. BlipTrack sensors collect data from passing vehicles equipped with Bluetooth and wi-fi-enabled devices and calculate journey times and traffic flow. The solution is also able to analyse data from third-party data source