Skip to main content

Bluetooth technology to shorten travel times

A new traffic app recently launched in Adelaide, South Australia, is helping drivers avoid roadworks and traffic jams with real-time updates. AddInsight taps into more than 400 of Adelaide’s state-of-the-art Bluetooth receivers, which monitor the city’s road network in real-time and broadcasts verbal messages to drivers in about approaching delays through a vehicle’s hands free systems and mobile phones. The free app has been released at a time when the South Australian capital’s road network has been
April 20, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A new traffic app recently launched in Adelaide, South Australia, is helping drivers avoid roadworks and traffic jams with real-time updates.

AddInsight taps into more than 400 of Adelaide’s state-of-the-art Bluetooth receivers, which monitor the city’s road network in real-time and broadcasts verbal messages to drivers in about approaching delays through a vehicle’s hands free systems and mobile phones.

The free app has been released at a time when the South Australian capital’s road network has been plagued with disruptions caused by major infrastructure improvements such as new freeways and building projects.

Travel times determined using the information from the Bluetooth beacons are also broadcast on more than 47 electronic signs around metropolitan Adelaide to help motorists choose their fastest route.

The Bluetooth data allows traffic control centres to change traffic signals immediately in response to incidents such as crashes.

South Australian Transport and Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan said the unique traffic app would help shorten travel time. “The AddInsight app is like having a personal navigator in your car, giving you information in advance about hazards or delays ahead, so you can avoid them by finding an alternative route,” he said.

Related Content

  • Sony helps Rio get a better view of the Olympics
    June 29, 2016
    With the Olympics approaching, Sony’s Stephane Clauss examines how the latest camera technologies can help cities cope with the huge crowds attending major events. This August will see more than 10,000 athletes head to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics Games. Alongside them will be their coaching staff, a hoard of logistics teams, thousands of volunteer marshals (London 2012 had 70,000) and millions of spectators. All such major events have nervous jitters on the way to the opening ceremony. This year has see
  • Conscience versus convenience
    June 8, 2015
    David Crawford looks at new ways forward for public transport. By 2025, nearly 60% of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities, increasing their extent and density, and the journeys that people make within and between them. In response, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) wants to see public transport’s global modal share doubling (PTx2) by the same date. “Success in 2025,” a spokesperson told ITS International, “will save 170 million tonnes of oil equivalent and 550
  • Better liveability through more micromobility
    November 1, 2022
    Shared and micromobility offer new options, weaning urbanites off their cars, stitching existing mass transit combinations together. Andrew Stone looks at a report on transforming our cities
  • GPS-based virtual detection zones improve bus travel times
    July 5, 2013
    San Antonio, Texas’ new Via Primo will be kept on schedule with minimal impact on individual traffic flow with the implementation of a GPS-based bus rapid transit system that allows the bus to automatically request a green light when it is behind schedule and approaching a busy intersection.