Skip to main content

Inrix expands traffic data programme collaboration

Nearly a year after the I-95 Corridor Coalition, the University of Maryland (UMD) and Inrix announced a three-year expansion of the Vehicle Probe Project (VPP), the coalition and its partners are expanding their collaboration once again. Through a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Awards Grant, the coalition will use Inrix traffic information to expand coverage to over 40,000 miles of roads across fourteen states.
October 12, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
Nearly a year after the I-95 Corridor Coalition, the University of Maryland (UMD) and 163 Inrix announced a three-year expansion of the Vehicle Probe Project (VPP), the coalition and its partners are expanding their collaboration once again.

Through a 831 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Awards Grant, the coalition will use Inrix traffic information to expand coverage to over 40,000 miles of roads across fourteen states, to provide:

  •  Real-time traffic information for nearly 300 miles of freeways in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut

  • Maryland, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia join North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia with complete real-time coverage of freeways and select arterials state-wide

  • Introduce a set of next generation data-driven services accessible on the monitoring site by 600 professionals from more than twenty coalition member agencies

  • Ability to meet multiple existing and emerging federal requirements. VPP is helping member agencies meet Real-time System Management Information Program (RTSMIP) requirements for monitoring traffic flows along interstates and other major highways by late 2014. VPP is also enabling member agencies to assess the performance of their transportation system in the areas of congestion and reliability, key new requirements in MAP-21.

  • A continuously updating historical archive covering 40,000 miles of road dating back to 2009
 “Our ability to continue expanding this program is a direct result of the proven value the project delivers for member states in terms of improved operations, better planning and performance measurement,” said George Schoener, Executive Director, I-95 Corridor Coalition. “By expanding coverage to four New England states for the first time, nearly every coalition state is tapping the VPP to meet their operational needs as well as the new performance measurement requirements of the recent federal legislation, MAP-21.”

The VPP expansion is funded from a US$3.2 million grant from the FHWA, competitively awarded under FHWA’s Multistate Corridor Operations and Management Program. First operational in 2008, with 1,500 miles of coverage in six states, the VPP now covers nearly 8,000 miles of freeways and 32,000 additional miles of state highways and arterials in fourteen states. The VPP uses crowd-sourced traffic data and advanced analytics techniques to turn billions of data points into insights that are transforming the manner in which member states build, manage and measure their road networks. Real-time speeds and travel times are provided for 65,000 road segments over the 40,000 centerline miles, updated every minute.

Since it was first implemented in 2008, the VPP has achieved 99.8 per cent data availability in support of dozens of traffic and incident management, traveler information and performance measurement/planning uses by the coalition. In the largest ongoing test of traffic data accuracy in the world, INRIX real-time traffic information has been found accurate within 2.5 mph on average over the last four years.

“Better information means improved operations, more precise planning and better performance measurement,” added Rick Schuman, Vice President/General Manager of Public Sector, Inrix. “We look forward to continued collaboration with the coalition and its member agencies to better serve the travelling public.”

Added Schoener, “Through the vehicle probe project, states are meeting the federal government’s requirements for tomorrow’s transportation systems now. It exemplifies what successful public partnerships and public-private partnerships are all about - results.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Developing new detection and monitoring technologies
    November 21, 2012
    Established detection and monitoring technologies continue to evolve, but is it time to challenge their supremacy and take a serious look at less conventional ITS? Andy Graham considers the options with Jason Barnes. For ITS system providers, the most potentially lucrative markets over the next few years are going to be the BRIC (Brazil Russia India and China) group of countries, all of which are building many miles of new roads, applying tolling to existing ones (8,000km in China alone) and implementing w
  • ITS industry in the US has grown to $48 billion and will expand
    April 17, 2012
    ITS America has released what it says is the most comprehensive study to date on the scope of the ITS industry in the United States and North America. Researchers found intelligent transportation to be a fast growing sector valued at approximately US$48 billion. Results indicate that cities and states with drastically reduced budgets are turning to technology solutions to maximize existing highway capacity.
  • Costing transit is complicated case
    August 19, 2015
    David Crawford welcomes fresh thinking from Canada. Public transit improvements can bring society “significantly more value” than conventional transport models normally indicate, argues Canadian researcher Todd Litman. “Traditional evaluation practices originally developed to assess roadway improvements, and focus primarily on vehicle travel speeds and operating costs. “They do not generally quantify or monetise basic mobility benefits, vehicle ownership and parking cost savings, or efficient land developme
  • Orange County to manage traffic with trial interoperable CCTV
    September 12, 2014
    Interoperable CCTV can provide early warning of problems and help improve traffic management and incident response as Morteza Fahrtash and Carlos Ortiz explain. California’s transportation system is one of the state’s defining features and Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) strives to improving mobility across the state through the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the network of highway, freeways, toll roads and expressways.