"Traffic data gaps soon to be filled"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 4, 2006
Metro Atlanta drivers should finally have updates on highway traffic jams but only if new technologies plans pan out.
The Department of Transportation already uses highway data to alert drivers of congestions. But they are looking for ways to ease bottlenecks in the long run.
Navigator, a web of sensors installed to manage traffic, was already set up a decade ago but there are still some gaps in the system. They will be filled either by solar-powered radar sensors, from Traffic.com, or by tracking the speed of cell phones in cars brought by Cellint.
The DOT wants to focus on expanding their traffic management beyond the Perimeter. The gaps near the airport and the Ga. 400 will be expected to be covered by these new technologies. Alert signs that went dark are supposed to come back online with trip-time updates with Cellint.
The DOT eventually hopes to put its Navigator equipment on the whole network, it is now putting wireless systems both inside and outside the Perimeter. Even though their system also provides route-specific traffic updates; they do not see their relation with Traffic.com or Cellint as a competition but more as a partnership.
