A TTI-developed Bluetooth reader like this one will be used for travel surveys.

Using new methods for obtaining traveler information, researchers with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) are using technology in new ways to conduct an external travel survey for Omaha, Nebraska, and neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa. The survey will take place this spring.

Instead of relying on traditional, more intrusive methods to obtain traveler information that requires stopping motorists for interviews, researchers will use a TTI-developed Bluetooth® technology called Anonymous Wireless Address Matching (AWAM). The system is able to read the unique addresses from anonymous wireless devices, such as cell phones and on-board diagnostic systems. Additionally, researchers will use Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) technology, which is able to read license plates with the use of video cameras, and a community-wide web-based survey.

“As far as we know, this is the first time these technologies will be used to gather data for a travel survey,” says TTI Associate Research Scientist Steve Farnsworth, project manager for the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA) External Travel Survey. “In years past, external surveys were conducted by deploying traffic control plans and querying motorists on the shoulders of roadways. Technology is helping us get away from the decades-old methods that require a roadside interview.”

MAPA is updating its travel model and needs accurate data in order to help planners with future road projects based on the travel habits of motorists traveling within and through the area.

ALPR cameras will be used to help gather data for the new TTI travel surveys.

TTI’s AWAM was developed for traffic monitoring in order to measure travel time between two points along freeways and arterials in rural and urban environments. In the MAPA Travel Survey, the technology will allow researchers to track a vehicle’s travel route within the survey area.

ALPR, which has numerous applications, is most commonly used for collecting tolls on roadways. In the MAPA project, TTI researchers will use the technology to determine the residency status of motorists passing by each of the data-collection locations.

“All of the information will be collected anonymously,” Farnsworth points out. “The technology allows us to gather the information accurately and at a cheaper cost than the traditional methods.”

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TTI’s AWAM technology is installed inside a box on a utility pole near Hillsboro on I-35, helping agencies measure travel times and improve mobility.

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) invention known as AWAM — which stands for Anonymous Wireless Address Matching— is a perfect example of the old saying “success is the intersection of hard work and luck.” Though AWAM might never become a household word, for those in the transportation business, it’s quickly becoming the next breakthrough in traffic monitoring.

In 2010, the Texas A&M University System granted exclusive licensing rights for the TTI AWAM Intellectual Property (IP) to Post Oak Traffic Systems, Inc.., a Texas small business. Post Oak has partnered with other private companies that specialize in manufacturing traffic detection equipment to market products through sub-licensing agreements. The host system software is an integral part of the IP package being marketed by Post Oak Traffic Systems.

AWAM is a traffic data-collection technology that reads unique addresses from anonymous wireless devices (such as Bluetooth^®enabled devices) from vehicles and measures the travel time between two points along freeways and arterials in rural and urban environments. It’s the building block of real-time traveler information that’s needed by traffic management systems, like Houston’s TranStar, to better operate roadways.

The technology was developed as TTI researchers were working on a project with the city of Houston. “The city was investigating ways to monitor traffic on major arterials,” TTI Research Scientist Darryl Puckett explains. “They were considering AVI technology [used in tolling] and license-plate recognition. The deployment of these systems would likely have been cost prohibitive within public agency budgets, however. It provided the opportunity for our team of TTI researchers to develop something less expensive and non-proprietary, and it was during that process that the notion of Bluetooth was considered.”

Puckett and his team members developed the new system, and extensive research and field testing determined it to be accurate, dependable and more cost effective for monitoring traffic on city streets than other available technologies. They applied for a patent and kept exploring ways to use their discovery.

A satellite image shows the locations on I-35 and I-45 where AWAM technology is installed.

In 2009, AWAM devices were installed by TTI staff along I-45 between Houston and Dallas to assist in monitoring traffic during hurricane evacuations. Fifty of the devices have been installed on I-35 between Hillsboro and San Antonio to inform travelers of construction-related delays and provide for enhanced traffic management for nearly 1,000 directional miles of busy Texas Interstate roadways. Other Texas cities where AWAM has been installed include Beaumont, Sugarland, San Antonio, Dallas, The Woodlands, and College Station. Additionally, the installations in the Houston area include separate systems managed by the city of Houston and Harris County.

“Other U.S. states are installing AWAM devices with the TTI intellectual property,” Mike Vickich says. “But the world market is getting started and looks promising, with an existing system in Canada and opportunities being explored in other countries.”

As well as it’s going now, Vickich says, AWAM could go full throttle soon. “One of the biggest drivers of the potential success of AWAM is new federal regulations that will go into effect in the next two years that require agencies to monitor the performance of their roadway systems. Of course, we think AWAM will do that efficiently and cost effectively.”

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