MassDOT real time traffic management system

Abstract

MassDOT is pursuing an innovative business model that provides real time travel time information to the public using dedicated highway signs covering over 700 miles of state highway and encompassing the entire metropolitan Boston area. This investment in infrastructure means that MassDOT owns and archives these data, maintains and controls their quality, and freely provides them to third party developers in real time. This business model differs from all other state Departments of Transportation (DOT) around the United States that currently purchase travel time data from private companies. The development and operation of this Real Time Traffic Management (RTTM) system has resulted in a shift towards new measures of system performance and has triggered the production of new strategies for multi-modal transportation system management—all in a manner directly supportive of emerging trends: open public data, big data and the development of smart cities.