Skip to main content

VDOT launches SmarterRoads transportation data portal for developers

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has launched SmarterRoads, a new cloud based data portal initiative that provides free, widespread access to a range of VDOT information to organisations interested in creating value-added transportation applications and products for end users. SmarterRoads provides direct access to road and transportation information, beyond currently available VDOT traffic operations data, in one portal site.
August 21, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The 1747 Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has launched SmarterRoads, a new cloud based data portal initiative that provides free, widespread access to a range of VDOT information to organisations interested in creating value-added transportation applications and products for end users. SmarterRoads provides direct access to road and transportation information, beyond currently available VDOT traffic operations data, in one portal site.


Through the creation of the SmarterRoads portal, VDOT aims to accelerate Connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technology development in Virginia by sharing transportation data with third-party sector business, application developers and university partners.

After accepting the SmarterRoads usage agreement, users can create an account and subscribe to as many as 22 different data sets. While SmarterRoads will undergo phased enhancement roll outs, initial data sets include traffic volumes, speed limits, travel advisories, lane closures, crashes, truck restrictions, traffic sensors, incidents, sign messages and locations, paving schedules, short- and long-term weather events, Six-Year Improvement Plan major road construction, and signal phase and timing data. Anticipated audiences include app and software developers, the CAV industry, the auto industry, Original Equipment Manufacturers, universities and researchers, other departments of transportation and federal, state and local agencies.

Feedback can be submitted through the SmarterRoads portal. VDOT will continue to simplify the process to add new users and expand data offerings to meet development needs.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bigger role for data protection and privacy policies in transportation
    June 11, 2015
    Dr Caitlin Cottrill, lecturer at the University of Aberdeen’s School of Geosciences, examines the impact of privacy legislation on the transportation sector. Growing reliance on big data, underscored by the increasing ubiquity of smart infrastructure and the ‘Internet of Things’, has profoundly impacted the regulatory environment experienced by transportation professionals. This is particularly the case in relation to the privacy of personally identifying information (PII). There has been increased attenti
  • What's next for traffic management and data collection?
    January 26, 2012
    As the technologies and stakeholders in traffic management evolve, what can we expect to see happening in the coming years? For many, the conversation of the moment is just how, and how far, the newer technologies and services provided principally by the private sector should be allowed to intrude into the realms of traffic management.
  • Data revolution in real time travel information
    February 3, 2012
    Damian Black, CEO and founder of SQLstream Inc, writes about relational stream processing for real-time intelligent transport systems Almost unnoticed there is a revolution going on in Internet data which is different from anything seen before. It is taking place in sensor data, which research organisation Gartner predicts in 2012 will exceed 20 per cent of all non-video Internet traffic.
  • Haas Alert and Monotch go Dutch
    April 15, 2024
    Haas will deliver in-car safety messages from Monotch’s TLEX-based national platform