Skip to main content

New Jersey takes a high tech approach to smarter roads

IBM has developed a new transportation management solution to help minimise congestion and improve traffic flow for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA). The solution, which is part of NJTA's advanced traffic management program (ATMP), will serve both the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, two of the most heavily travelled highways and busiest toll roads in the United States. The system, which manages almost a thousand devices, provides traffic management professionals at the NJTA
May 21, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
62 IBM has developed a new transportation management solution to help minimise congestion and improve traffic flow for the 2100 New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).

The solution, which is part of NJTA's advanced traffic management program (ATMP), will serve both the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, two of the most heavily travelled highways and busiest toll roads in the United States.

The system, which manages almost a thousand devices, provides traffic management professionals at the NJTA with a single, comprehensive view of all signs at their command with intuitive access to the sophisticated tools necessary for nimble management of information such as updating speed limits and travel messages to drivers.

Connecting a wide array of systems into a central location that is both dynamic and intelligent enables the NJTA to quickly react and respond to real-time information about roadway conditions that ultimately serves to reduce congestion and delays faced by motorists.

In future phases, the ATMP will use data generated from over 3,000 sensors to further optimise response times for all forms of traffic incidents and reduction of secondary incidents. The new system provides central management of approximately 900 devices that include: variable message (VMS), drum (CM) and portable signs, in addition to newly designed hybrid (VMS/drum) displays and traffic cameras.

"This first of its kind transportation management solution will help minimize congestion and improve traffic flow for the Garden State," said IBM North America General Manager Elly Keinan. "With IBM's Intelligent Transportation solution, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority is providing operators a holistic view for monitoring traffic events and conditions through data collection from a variety of roadside devices. Using an Internet of Things approach in creating a modern turnpike will allow the NJTA to easily add enhancements to the road system such as advanced analytics and predictive capabilities in the future for traffic prediction, incident detection, and other roadway optimization capabilities."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Doha implements traffic control system
    November 21, 2012
    Expansion of ITS systems has accelerated in Qatar this year, with rapid deployment of a traffic control system in Doha. Less than 10 years from now an extensive system of ITS technology will be operating in Qatar, informing and directing users of the country’s roads. That can be stated with confidence for a number of reasons: the world’s richest country per capita will host the World Cup in 2022 and is understood to be planning to develop sophisticated systems of ITS for road safety and traffic managemen
  • UK drivers get real time traffic information boost
    August 9, 2012
    The UK Highways Agency is trialling a system to add commercially available traffic data to its existing sources to monitor how well traffic is flowing on England's motorways and strategic roads. Similar data sources are already used by satellite navigation devices, smartphones, and applications like Google maps. Better real-time data will allow agency staff to respond more quickly to incidents and identify delays and communicate them to drivers so they can take alternative routes if necessary.
  • Qatar invests $70 billion to pave the way to world beating transportation
    July 26, 2013
    Eng. Zeina Nazer looks at what Qatar’s recently-announced investment in transport infrastructure will mean on the ground. Qatar is experiencing a rapid economic and industrial growth. This growth is characterised by a rapid population increase and by the urgent need towards the development of both infrastructure projects and major transport projects. In order to handle this rate of development within Qatar, Public Works Authority (Ashghal) is developing a fully-integrated multimodal transportation system in
  • Bartco UK launches Queue Detect to help ease congestion
    December 5, 2017
    Bartco UK has launched Queue Detect to help ease congestion on roads and highways by informing road users of potential delays and informing drivers of hazardous stationary traffic ahead. It uses frequency modulated continuous wave radar to detect slow-moving traffic which then notifies a central server to activate pre-planned messages on any number of variable message signs (VMS).