MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TrafficCast International, Inc., today officially released BlueTOAD/CONNECT, traffic monitoring technology in a form factor that directly installs into a traffic signal cabinet, utilizing available power and data connections.
BlueTOAD™ (Bluetooth Travel-time Origination And Destination) traces anonymous Bluetooth™ signals from mobile devices in vehicles to determine travel times, road speeds and vehicle movements. BlueTOAD delivers accurate traffic data to meet specific needs of Departments of Transportation, traffic engineers and traffic information providers for reliable reports of road conditions.
BlueTOAD continues to be available for operation independent of local power and data connections, with a solar panel and cellular connectivity. Marketed as BlueTOAD/AIR, the original form factor is especially useful for temporary or permanent deployments in work zones, rural interstates, suburban arterials and similar unwired road environments. The increasing need for cost effective, non-intrusive, accurate travel time information on urban roadways, however, made a BlueTOAD/CONNECT a high priority.
“BlueTOAD enables granular road speed coverage, particularly for areas that more traditional sensors cannot address efficiently, such as arterials and on/off-ramps,” said Error! Reference source not found., Vice President of Public Sector Sales for TrafficCast. “Our clients want to take advantage of their existing Ethernet backbone; with a system that is completely non-intrusive, is quick to install, requires limited maintenance and offers reliable and useful data both in real-time and archive environments. BlueTOAD/CONNECT meets and exceed these requirements and enables agencies to monitor and improve the performance of their arterial road matrix through enhanced driver information, responsive traffic signal timing and data-based roadwork planning.”
BlueTOAD/CONNECT slides directly into any standard Detector rack found in modern roadside signal cabinets to access power. The faceplate of BlueTOAD/Connect includes a standard Ethernet port for data communications connectivity within the cabinet. Alternatively, if rack space is unavailable, BlueTOAD/CONNECT can be fit in a standard shelf mount enclosure. In either case, a Bluetooth antenna must be installed outside the signal cabinet, typically on a traffic signal mast arm, with the antenna wired to BlueTOAD/CONNECT through existing conduits.
One of the initial commercial installations of BlueTOAD/CONNECT is in Baton Rouge, along ten miles of Interstate 12, a densely travelled commuter arterial northeast of the city. “We’ve needed accurate travel times on I-12 for a long time, both for traveler information and our own management requirements,” said Shelby Coke, Director of Traffic Operations for ABMB Engineers, Inc., and manager of the project on behalf of the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development (LA DOTD). “BlueTOAD/CONNECT made it feasible, especially considering its data quality, associated costs and ease of integration into our automated traffic management systems.”
For more information, visit www.trafficcast.com.