Skip to main content

Atlanta deploys Bluetooth-based DMS to help improve travel times

The Cobb County Department of Transportation (CCDOT) in Georgia, USA, has activated six full-colour dynamic message signs (DMS) in the metropolitan Atlanta area in a bid to improve travel times and enable motorists to choose less-congested routes. The LED signs have been installed on Cobb Parkway, South Marietta Parkway, Roswell Road and Spring Road to provide travel time information for common destinations and indicate the congestion level related to specific routes in real time. Travel times on I-75 and C
May 10, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The Cobb County Department of Transportation (CCDOT) in Georgia, USA, has activated six full-colour dynamic message signs (DMS) in the metropolitan Atlanta area in a bid to improve travel times and enable motorists to choose less-congested routes.


The LED signs have been installed on Cobb Parkway, South Marietta Parkway, Roswell Road and Spring Road to provide travel time information for common destinations and indicate the congestion level related to specific routes in real time.

Travel times on I-75 and Cobb Parkway appear in digits that are green, yellow or red, depending on the average speed of the roadway. Green digits indicate near free-flow speeds, yellow digits indicate moderate speeds and red digits indicate slow conditions. Public service announcements as well as information related to incidents, construction and special events also will appear on the signs.

The travel time messages use real-time data collected by a recently expanded travel time system, which now covers many major arterials within Cobb County and freeways in the Atlanta metro area. The data comes from detectors that collect anonymous electronic addresses from motorists’ 1835 Bluetooth and wi-fi-enabled mobile devices.

Related Content

  • September 15, 2017
    Atlanta launches Smart Corridor demonstration project
    The City of Atlanta, Georgia, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and Georgia Tech, has launched a smart city project on a major east-west artery in the city. The North Avenue Smart Corridor demonstration project, funded by the Renew Atlanta Infrastructure Bond, will deploy the latest technology in adaptive signal systems for a safer, more efficient flow of transit, personal vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians
  • February 2, 2012
    Bluetooth speed and travel data collection shows cost savings
    Houston TranStar is using Bluetooth sensors to collect speed and travel data in a project which is already demonstrating significant cost savings
  • April 10, 2014
    Cellint measures speed and travel time without roadside infrastructure
    Collecting speed and travel time data without using roadside infrastructure could offer new possibilities to cash-strapped road authorities. Streaming video may be useful for traffic controllers to monitor incidents and automatic number plate recognition may be required for enforcement, but neither are necessary for many ITS functions. For instance travel times, tailbacks, percentage of vehicles turning, origin and destination analysis can all be done using Bluetooth and/or WI-Fi sensors and without video o
  • January 31, 2012
    Innovative traffic information system
    From the roadside James Foster compiles some eye-catching news, deployments and product picks from the work zone