New system uses radar to report traffic flow

Other plans
SpeedInfo’s main competitor is Traffic.com, which has been in business since 1998 and has a much larger network of 1,500 radar sensors. The company was recently acquired by Navteq Corp., which provides digital maps for vehicle navigation systems, many of which include features that route drivers around traffic.

Traffic.com, which also partners with local transportation officials, has 20 sensors in D.C. and 40 in northern Virginia. Another 40 are on the way in Maryland, said John Collins, vice president for intelligent transportation systems.

Another approach — tracking the signals of the cell phones that happen to be inside vehicles — is being used by two companies, IntelliOne and AirSage. In some areas, officials use automatic toll readers to measure how long it takes vehicles to get from one point to another, even when they aren’t collecting tolls, Lomax said.

There also is older equipment for measuring real-time traffic speed — sensors embedded in pavement — but they can be complicated to maintain.

Erik Linden, a spokesman for the District Department of Transportation, said D.C.’s arrangement with SpeedInfo is “a healthy public-private relationship to benefit motorists.” He said the department will first work with the company to ensure the data’s accuracy before using them to quantify congestion. Ultimately, the department may use the information to better manage the flow, he said. In addition, the sensors are located on some of the city’s main evacuation routes, meaning the information could have emergency-planning uses.

Lest the words “radar” and “speed” alarm high-intensity motorists, Finlay emphasized that the sensors are not equipped with cameras.

“We don’t have any way of determining who is going 100 miles per hour,” he said. “We just know someone is.”

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