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.

Related Content

  • April 8, 2014
    German authorities use CB-radio message to reduce accidents in roadworks
    Citizen Band radio is proving useful to prevent accidents in Germany’s roadworks. In common with other German Länder (federal regions) with large volumes of commercial vehicles using their trunk road networks, Bavaria had been experiencing high levels of road traffic accidents (RTAs) involving heavy trucks in the vicinity of minor motorway maintenance sites. This was despite the extensive visual warning regulations published in the German federal road safety audit (RSA) guidelines for the protection of site
    Read More
  • March 19, 2014
    Asking drivers what information they need: radical but effective
    When Texas A&M Transportation Institute was asked to devise a temporary traveller information system for work zones, it started by asking drivers what they need. Robert Brydia explains the thinking, implementation and results. US Interstate 35 (I-35) runs roughly north–south originating in Laredo, Texas and ends 1,500 miles away in Duluth, Minnesota having passed through Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. Within Texas the I-35 splits into I-35E and I-35W passing through Dallas and Fort Worth respectiv
    Read More
  • November 11, 2015
    CRASH Predicts ‘unpredictable’ in traffic incidents
    Road crashes are not as random as they may appear and analysing data can reveal patterns that can help various authorities target their resources more accurately. David Crawford reports. Figures from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that in 2013 there were 32,719 people killed on American roads and 2.31 million injured. While these form part of an overall 25% drop over the decade from 2004, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx continues to stress that reaching the procl
    Read More
  • May 30, 2014
    US eyes European model for Illinois toll road upgrade
    David Crawford welcomes the adoption of European-style ITS technology by the US. The Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in Illinois, US is well on the way towards becoming a ‘smart traffic corridor’, taking full advantage of active traffic management (ATM or ‘managed lanes’) technology that originated in Europe. It is one of the first American toll roads to do so; preliminary work began in 2014 and will continue through to 2016. Jane Addams is one of four toll roads operated by the publicly-owned Illinois State T
    Read More

Highlighted Content