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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Looks simple, doesn’t it? In reality, presenting and forecasting accurate traffic data to I-35 commuters requires complex algorithms that integrate different data sources and constantly monitor the forecasted conditions for accuracy.

Traffic congestion is as familiar as bluebonnets on the roadside for anyone who’s traveled I-35 in the last twenty years. To meet capacity demands, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is expanding I-35 in its Waco District (a 96-mile stretch from Hillsboro to Salado). At an estimated cost of $2.5 billion, the overall effort is made up of 17 smaller construction projects and targeted for completion in 2017.

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) is providing TxDOT technical support on the project, namely in the form of a first-of-its-kind traveler-information system. The system integrates several methods for capturing data, forecasts congestion along the construction route, and provides that information to anyone who wants it.

The concept for the system is similar to modern traffic management systems used in urban areas. Put simply, it marries together three data-gathering methods to create reliable forecasts for travelers:

1. Bluetooth® technology — travelers’ devices (e.g., cell phones, laptops, and the GPS systems in newer cars) are anonymously pinged at point A and point B, giving a reliable estimate of travel time between the points.
2. Wavetronix sensors — placed strategically along the corridor at 17 points of high traffic interaction (e.g., where a state highway crosses I-35), the sensors capture traffic volume.
3. End-of-queue warning systems — relying on radar detectors mounted in orange barrels around work zones, speeds of approaching vehicles are measured as they near the work zone, and patterns of slowing traffic (indicating a backup in traffic flow) are noted.

Travelers will soon be able to access reliable forecasts via My35.org for what traffic on I-35 in Waco will be in an hour, before they ever leave Hillsboro, some 40 miles away.

“From our perspective, a real success story of this project is how we’ve interfaced with TxDOT’s LoneStar traffic management system,” says TTI Research Scientist Bob Brydia, principal investigator on the project. “Using their data protocols, we feed our information to them, and that helps drive the messages you see on the PCMSs.” PCMSs, or portable changeable message signs, display traffic forecasts along the roadway.

New portable changeable message signs like this one will soon keep I-35 travelers informed about forecasted construction delays along the corridor.

While congestion can be inconvenient for travelers, it can also be costly — in very real terms — for big business. Knowing where work zones are, what lanes will be closed, and when to expect slower travel is vital for companies like Wal-Mart and H-E-B. They rely on I-35 to get their goods via truck from major distribution hubs to their brick-and-mortar stores. When you’re talking perishables, traffic backups can mean the difference between fresh and spoiled milk — and that can translate into lost revenue for the company and higher prices for consumers.

Similarly, with better information on hand, EMS personnel can get to the scene of an accident sooner. The life-saving potential there really needs no further explanation.

Jodi Wheatley, Waco District’s information specialist for the project, acknowledges that without TTI’s help, the I-35 expansion effort would have been much tougher.

“Reconstructing almost 100 miles of interstate is a massive job for the department, and at the end of the day we at TxDOT want to be as responsive and helpful as we can to our fellow Texans,” Wheatley says. “Because of the scope of the project, that would be much more difficult without TTI’s logistical support and technical know-how. Maybe even impossible.”

Since the early 1980s, TTI has estimated congestion in hundreds of urban regions across the country. Published annually, the resulting Urban Mobility Report has been the most reliable source of congestion information available.

Although Institute researchers will continue publishing this report, the way they received their congestion data dramatically changed two years ago.

“Up until recently, congestion data was gathered from public sources,” Shawn Turner, manager for the Mobility Analysis Program, explains. “Cities and state departments of transportation gathered that information themselves using sporadic traffic counters, a limited amount of roadway sensors and a lot of estimations.”

Those methods seem primitive today compared to what is available from the private sector — real time data thanks to GPS and Bluetooth® devices that are contained within many vehicles, cell phones and mobile devices. Traffic monitoring companies receive data from the devices and can monitor actual speeds and travel times with ever-increasing accuracy on any major highway across the country — not just in urban areas. The data they collect is sold to auto manufacturers, fleet management companies, vehicle navigation firms, and, now on a limited basis, government agencies.

TTI has just completed a report for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that examines this new technology — the growing number of companies that collect the data, how it’s collected, the products used in collecting it, who’s buying it and how much it costs, how it’s being used and the legal issues surrounding use of private-sector data by the public sector. Private Sector Data for Performance Management will act as FHWA’s guide in assisting states and the federal government in using this information to manage/reduce congestion.

“FHWA really wanted to know everything it could about these new private data sources,” Turner says. “It has been charged with knowing what the congestion problems are, where they are and recommending where the money should go to help fix it.” Turner adds that the next transportation authorization bill will likely require a much more detailed level of congestion data for performance monitoring.

In addition to TTI, The University of Maryland and attorneys from the law firm of Nossaman LLP helped with the report.

“It’s clear that the technology is changing dramatically, and there are numerous questions about its use and application. The report is a starting point for FHWA,” Turner says. “It’s an exciting time because it’s entirely possible that a newer technology will emerge that will make this data collection method obsolete within a few years.”