Virginia expands travel information on I-66

Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is to expand the traffic information system on Interstate 66 (I-66). Motorists will now see travel times displayed on overhead message signs for the 35 miles from Washington to Haymarket. VDOT has been posting the number of miles and minutes to key destinations at three locations between the Capital Beltway and Gainesville since August 2011. Message signs will display the information at seven new locations. In addition, by summer, six more locations will be ad
April 4, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
1747 Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is to expand the traffic information system on Interstate 66 (I-66).  Motorists will now see travel times displayed on overhead message signs for the 35 miles from Washington to Haymarket.  VDOT has been posting the number of miles and minutes to key destinations at three locations between the Capital Beltway and Gainesville since August 2011.  Message signs will display the information at seven new locations. In addition, by summer, six more locations will be added: two on I-66 and four locations on major roads approaching I-66.  Travel times will be displayed weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

VDOT is using traffic data from 163 Inrix and other sources to determine the travel times. Traffic controllers at the Public Safety Transportation Operations Center in Fairfax County will ensure the travel times are successfully relayed to the electronic message signs and are accurately refreshed every five minutes.

 “This will give motorists continually updated information on traffic conditions ahead, allowing them to take more control over their commute,” said Governor Bob McDonnell.  “Northern Virginia has the most congested roads in the nation and too many hours and dollars are wasted sitting in traffic. Thankfully, together with the General Assembly we have taken historic action this year to produce a long-term, sustainable transportation funding solution.  We must continue to encourage innovative solutions, like this, in order to build the world class, 21st century transportation network Virginians deserve."
Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • January 30, 2012
    Mounting benefits of dynamic tolling project
    Wisconsin's four-year HOT lanes pilot project, launched in May 2008, cost US$18.8 million to construct. Halfway into the project, which uses variably priced, or dynamic, tolling to improve highway efficiency, the benefits are mounting. The problem was obvious, and frustrating, to anyone who ever sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic on State Route 167 and watched a lone car whiz by every 20 seconds or so in the carpool lane. But for planners at the Washington State Department of Transportation, the conundrum was
    Read More
  • July 7, 2017
    Missouri’s smart solution for rural road monitoring
    David Crawford sees how Missouri is using commercially available information to rapidly improve monitoring and driver information on rural highways. Missouri is a predominantly rural state with the second largest number of farms in the country and agriculture the main occupation in 97 of its 114 counties. US statistics starkly reveal how road accidents in rural areas tend to be more serious than in urban regions and of the 32,000 US motorists killed each year, 54% die on roads in rural areas even though onl
    Read More
  • January 19, 2012
    New technology and economics at ITS World Congress 2011
    ITS America prepares for the 18th World Congress on ITS and 2011 Annual Meeting, 16-20 October 2011, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida. In the final moments of the 2008 ITS World Congress in New York City, organisers and planning committee members quietly celebrated the conclusion of another extremely successful event for the ITS industry. In spite of the economic climate at the time, the 2008 World Congress was well attended by delegates from 66 countries and yielded impressive results than
    Read More
  • January 20, 2012
    Social media a one-stop shop for travel information
    Exponentially widening mobile phone ownership is opening up the field to new ways of obtaining and disseminating better travel information from and to public transport users, via for example social media and tracking riders' phones. Over 50 US transit agencies, including major actors such as TriMet, in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon, Dallas Area Rapid Transit in Texas, and San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), as well as smaller operators, now have Facebook and/or Twitter accoun
    Read More

Highlighted Content