Caltrans was recently awarded $2.9 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), as part of Caltrans' $12.9 million program to test various ITS technology applications designed to reduce gridlock, improve traveler safety and enhance public transportation services.

The program is intended to accelerate deployment of Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) using consumer mobile devices to deliver various VII services.

Some key services and applications being tested under this program include collection of real-time traffic data utilizing consumer mobile devices using various communications protocols (such as DSRC, WIMAX, WIFI, cellular and satellite); use of commercial and transit vehicles enabled with consumer devices as collection technology; and implementation of in-vehicle alert functionality.

In collaboration with UC-Berkeley's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and the California Center for Innovative Transportation (CCIT), GPS-equipped Nokia mobile phones as probes will be deployed to collect real- time traffic information.

The real-time speed and flow data will be transmitted to local and remote traffic management centers from the phones of several thousand volunteer commuters and transit vehicles traveling within a 200-mile radius of the Bay Area.

Using its proprietary processing technology, NAVTEQ will aggregate and process the probe data, integrate it with other NAVTEQ Traffic(TM) data sources and distribute it back to the travelers who provide the probe data from their mobile phones.

The data will be referenced to the NAVTEQ map and will also be available for distribution, via a variety of channels, to multiple consumer devices including personal navigation devices, in-vehicle systems and mobile phones.

"Congestion and congestion-related problems are some of the largest issues faced by state DOTs as well as the traveling public. This phase of SAFE TRIP-21 is a quantum change in traffic information services because it involves drivers as part of the solution by transforming them, via their GPS-enabled mobile phones, into sources of traffic data," said Caltrans Chief Deputy Director Randell H. Iwasaki.

"Working with NAVTEQ and Nokia, two leaders in the traffic information and mobile device industries, respectively, we are confident this demonstration will accelerate the viability of consumer- based probes as ever-present sources of accurate traffic data."

To support the overall VII network communications, a central objective of Safe Trip 21, NAVTEQ will also provide specific roadway signage attributes such as speed limits, highway exit information, and incident information. The objective of the project is to advance the development of a VII system, which uses WiFi and Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) to alert drivers of potentially unsafe conditions.

"NAVTEQ has a long history of involvement in ITS, and being included by Caltrans as part of these demonstrations is really exciting. Being a part of this initiative further confirms NAVTEQ's role in accelerating the deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems and services, which is an important commitment we continue to make to the travelling public," said John MacLeod, Executive Vice President, Connected Services for NAVTEQ.

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