MassDOT uses Bluetooth to provide real-time information on signs

Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has deployed forty-eight message signs along the Massachusetts Turnpike, Route 3 on the South Shore and the Mid-Cape highway, which will use information from Bluetooth enabled devices to display real time traffic information. The signs will operate seven days a week from 5am to 10pm and will be updated every three minutes with new information. A unique identifier and a time stamp is created when a Bluetooth enabled device, such a cell phone in a car, pass
May 28, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
7213 Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has deployed forty-eight message signs along the Massachusetts Turnpike, Route 3 on the South Shore and the Mid-Cape highway, which will use information from Bluetooth enabled devices to display real time traffic information.

The signs will operate seven days a week from 5am to 10pm and will be updated every three minutes with new information. A unique identifier and a time stamp is created when a Bluetooth enabled device, such a cell phone in a car, passes a roadside detector. When the device passes a second detector, an algorithm is performed using the time stamps and the unique identifier to arrive at the travel time that is displayed on the boards.

The data will be fed to MassDOT’s website and an open data feed for phone app developers will follow in the coming weeks.
 
Announcing the deployment, MassDOT Secretary and CEO Richard A Davey said: “MassDOT is pleased to provide this information to residents and visitors to the Commonwealth,” said Secretary Davey. “We hope they will use this service to add some predictably to their lives and also serve as a reliable resource to help them make decisions on taking alternative routes or using public transit.”
Networking & Communication Systems Urban Traffic Control Air Quality & Weather Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • MassDoT dashboard reveals Covid impact
    September 15, 2020
    Commuters will be able to see data on traffic volumes and safety
    Read More
  • ‘Free’ power for signs, shelters and so much more
    March 17, 2016
    David Crawford looks at the sunny side of the street. Solar power has been relatively slow in entering the transport sector, but a current blossoming of activity bodes well for the large-scale harnessing of an alternative energy that is zero-emission at source and, in practical terms, infinitely renewable. Traffic management and traveller information systems, and actual vehicles, are all emerging as areas for deployment. Meanwhile roads themselves are being viewed as new-style, fossil fuel-free ‘power stati
    Read More
  • Real time passenger information now available
    December 1, 2014
    New York State’s Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) Board of Directors is to roll out a real time passenger information (RTPI) pilot program for its fleet of fixed route buses, using automatic vehicle location (AVL) software to determine bus location and speed. Customers will be able to access real time transit information for CDTA fixed route services through the free CDTA iride mobile application for Apple and Android devices, through Google Maps’ mobile apps and maps.google.com, through
    Read More
  • Variable message signs continue to deliver travel information
    February 2, 2012
    Arguably the 'face' of ITS, variable message signs are far from being a passing solution
    Read More

Highlighted Content