It soon may be a lot easier for Interstate 95 travelers to get information about traffic backups, construction information and other delays, thanks to a new $6.4 million partnership announced Tuesday, Nov. 18, between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the I-95 Corridor Coalition.
“The goal is to make it easier to learn about traffic backups on I-95 than it is to find the next gas station,” says Paul Brubaker, administrator of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).
The program is intended to help the coalition continue testing vehicle probes to provide travel time information along the East Coast. After this information has been verified, commuters in selected areas of the I-95 corridor will have the potential – through a variety of information resources – to make more informed travel decisions, according to the agencies. For example, the North Carolina DOT will be able to better monitor travel through work zone areas so it can advise approaching motorists of queues and speed limits to achieve safer and more efficient operation.
“Since 1993, the members of the I-95 Corridor Coalition have maintained a strong relationship with the U.S. Department of Transportation,” says George Schoener, the coalition’s executive director. “We look forward to working with the department to test and evaluate the public benefit of innovative travel information services.”
The award to I-95 Corridor Coalition, through the University of Maryland, is part of DOT’s new SafeTrip-21 initiative, which supports the use of advanced technology to improve safety, improve public transportation services and reduce gridlock. In June, DOT launched the first SafeTrip-21 partnership in the San Francisco Bay area.
