Business Case: Statewide Highway Travel Times

In December 2005, CCIT hosted a forum on travel times technology and economics in San Diego. The forum brought state, regional, and private-sector practitioners together to discuss cutting-edge, travel time data collection, and dissemination tools.

The Statewide Highway Travel Times project will continue the dialogue that began with the San Diego Travel Times Forum. The project will draft deployment plans for technology that can significantly improve data collection for travel time estimates.

This will further the two key points that emerged from the Travel Times Forum:

• Data that is both ubiquitous and reliable is urgently needed to manage California’s transportation system.

• Caltrans should intensify partnerships with the private sector to leverage travel information demand and benefit from the latest technological advances.

CCIT is focused on helping Caltrans extend the coverage and quality of travel
time information using new technologies. Drawn from existing studies and similar
initiatives, CCIT is developing metrics to assess the quality of data used for travel time estimates. The assessment will be governed by regular, systematic benchmark evaluations of travel time estimates.

CCIT is also formulating a business case using new technologies and business models that, according to vendors, extend sensor coverage. CCIT has discussed possible business models with traffic data providers. These discussions included providers of Floating Vehicle Data (FVD). The concept of FVD is based on the exchange of traffic-related information between vehicles traveling on the road network and an information system to calculate travel times using different technologies, such as cell phones or GPS devices. Equipped vehicles act like probes on the road network and continuously provide cost-effective, real-time traffic data.