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

  • Countering truckers’ parking conundrum
    May 3, 2017
    Colin Sowman hears about a new truck parking information system being piloted across eight states. Legislation limits truck drivers’ hours with the result that they are often caught in a situation where they need to stop either for a break or an overnight rest. But as truck parking is in short supply, truck drivers spend an average of 56 minutes a day searching for available spaces and are often faced with the choice of driving beyond their permitted hours or parking illegally.
    Read More
  • Modelling MaaS and making it happen
    June 15, 2017
    Colin Sowman looks at some of the emerging technology being introduced to evaluate and operate Mobility as a Service. The fast-growing interest in Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) has prompted the creation of a host of software systems for those wanting to become a MaaS provider or participate in MaaS offerings. Most recently, at ITS International’s MaaS Market conference, Portuguese company Brisa Innovation announced a name change to A-to-Be to reflect its increasing involvement in the MaaS sector with the lau
    Read More
  • Wireless traffic data in real time
    January 31, 2012
    The effect of moving objects on the electromagnetic landscape set up by cellular telephony networks can be detected and interpreted to give real-time traffic data across large geographical areas at low cost. Here, we revisit the Celldar concept. Global economic downturn has pushed public-sector agencies, transport administrations among them, to push even harder for cost efficiencies. Unfortunately, when it comes to transport safety and efficiency the public sector often has to work up to a cost rather than
    Read More
  • Google maps the future of traffic and travel information?
    March 16, 2012
    Will the relentless growth of Google lead to it becoming the ultimate provider of travel information services? Huw Williams investigates Google’s strategy and David Crawford discovers what two principal rivals are doing to keep pace. In the first weeks of 2012 one company staked two divergent claims on the future of transport. One is the science fiction of only a decade ago, turned into reality: the driverless car. The other seems more prosaic, yet in its own way is just as significant a marker of the futur
    Read More

Highlighted Content