College Park, MD and Kirkland, WA – October 11, 2012 – Nearly one year after the I-95 Corridor Coalition, the University of Maryland (UMD) and INRIX announced a 3-year expansion of the landmark Vehicle Probe Project (VPP), the Coalition and its partners are expanding their collaboration once again. Through a Federal Highway Administration Awards Grant, the Coalition will use INRIX traffic information to expand coverage to over 40,000 miles of roads across 14 states – the largest traffic service in the world.
“Our ability to continue expanding this program is a direct result of the proven value the Project delivers for member states in terms of improved operations, better planning and performance measurement. said George Schoener, Executive Director, I-95 Corridor Coalition. “By expanding coverage to four New England states for the first time, nearly every Coalition state is tapping the VPP to meet their operational needs as well as the new performance measurement requirements of the recent federal legislation, MAP-21.”
Key areas of the expansion include:
• Real-time traffic information for nearly 300 centerline miles of freeways in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut
• Maryland, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia join North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia with complete real-time coverage of freeways and select arterials statewide.
• Introduce a set of next generation data-driven services accessible on the monitoring site by 600 professionals from more than 20 Coalition member agencies.
• Ability to meet multiple existing and emerging federal requirements now. VPP is helping member agencies meet Real-time System Management Information Program (RTSMIP) requirements for monitoring traffic flows along interstates and other major highways by late 2014. VPP is also enabling member agencies to assess the performance of their transportation system in the areas of congestion and reliability, key new requirements in MAP-21.
• A continuously updating historical archive covering 40,000 miles of road dating back to 2009.
The VPP expansion is funded from a $3.2 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration, competitively awarded under FHWA’s Multistate Corridor Operations and Management Program. First operational in 2008, with 1,500 miles of coverage in six states, the VPP now covers nearly 8,000 miles of freeways and 32,000 additional miles of state highways and arterials in 14 states. The VPP uses crowd-sourced traffic data and advanced analytics techniques to turn billions of data points into insights that are transforming the manner in which member states build, manage and measure their road networks. Real-time speeds and travel times are provided for 65,000 road segments over the 40,000 centerline miles, updated every minute.
Unique in concept and scale when first implemented in 2008, the VPP has achieved 99.8 percent data availability in support of dozens of traffic and incident management, traveler information and performance measurement/planning uses by the Coalition. In the largest ongoing test of traffic data accuracy in the world, INRIX real-time traffic information has been found accurate within 2.5 MPH on average over the last 4 years.
“Better information means improved operations, more precise planning and better performance measurement,” added Rick Schuman, Vice President/General Manager of Public Sector, INRIX. “We look forward to continued collaboration with the Coalition and its member agencies to better serve the traveling public.”
Added Schoener, “Through the vehicle probe project, states are meeting the federal governments requirements for tomorrow’s transportation systems now. It exemplifies what successful public partnerships and public-private partnerships are all about – results.”
About I-95 Corridor Coalition
The I-95 Corridor Coalition is a partnership of transportation agencies, toll authorities, and related organizations, including public safety, port, transit and rail organizations – from the State of Maine to the State of Florida – working together to improve long distance travel for passengers and freight. For more information, visit www.i95coalition.org.
