Skip to main content

New Zealand launches Bluetooth ITS trial

A trial using wireless communications technology to deliver real-time traffic information has been launched by New Zealand’s Ministry of Transport and ITS consultants AraFlow. The Co-operative Intelligent Transport Systems trial will investigate whether providing accurate real-time information about traffic conditions to participating commercial transport operators improves the productivity of freight movements. Ministry of Transport Chief Executive Martin Matthews says “We are testing whether this informat
June 13, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A trial using wireless communications technology to deliver real-time traffic information has been launched by New Zealand’s Ministry of Transport and ITS consultants 7385 AraFlow.

The Co-operative Intelligent Transport Systems trial will investigate whether providing accurate real-time information about traffic conditions to participating commercial transport operators improves the productivity of freight movements.

Ministry of Transport Chief Executive Martin Matthews says “We are testing whether this information allows better travel planning decisions, saves money by avoiding congestion and road traffic incidents, and reduces the time required to transport goods”.

Running until April 2014, the trial will involve commercial vehicles travelling on State Highway 2 between Auckland and Tauranga, and along selected alternative routes.

Bluetooth traffic sensors will collect anonymous data on average speeds between fixed points, overall journey times, traffic incidents and congestion. The real-time data collected will be fed back to drivers through dedicated roadside transmitters and in-cab units, and to transport operators through the password protected AraFlow website.

“This trial is unique in delivering up-to-the-minute data to commercial vehicles, and we are keen to see if this provides advantages over other existing sources of traffic information,” Mr Matthews said.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Investment boost for Canada’s weather warning systems
    August 5, 2013
    David Crawford reviews national and regional initiatives to boost Canada’s weather forecasting. Over the next five years Canada’s national weather services are due to benefit from a CAN$248 million injection of funding into the Environment Canada (EC) department to deliver timelier and more accurate weather warnings and forecasts for users including travellers and transport operators. The scheme, set out in the country’s 2013 Economic Action Plan, is to revitalise the services with new investments in federa
  • Future traffic management needs new thinking, new technology
    January 23, 2012
    One of the biggest problems facing US ITS professionals, says Georgia DOT's Hugh Colton, is the constrained thinking which is sometimes forced upon those making procurement decisions. It is time, he says, to look again at how we do things. In the November/December 2010 edition of this journal, Pete Goldin interviewed Joseph Sussman, chairman of the US's ITS Program Advisory Committee. Amongst other observations that Sussman made was that, technologically, ITS in the US is 10 years behind that in the world-l
  • Making the case for ALPR in enforcement
    February 2, 2012
    Federal Signal's Brian Shockley uses examples from around the world to make the case for the greater use of automatic license plate recognition technology in the US. It is time, he says, to consider the possibilities of a national network and the use of average speed enforcement
  • TTI, TxDOT to test connected vehicle technology
    January 9, 2015
    Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) has teamed up with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to undertake a four-year project to test connected vehicle technology on a portion of I35 in the state. Funded by a US Department of Transportation (USDOT) grant, the US$2 million project, called I-35 Connected Work Zone, will initially focus on improving freight movement along the construction corridor by providing long-haul trucks a steady stream of traveller information through on-board devices c