Caltrans Expands Traffic.com Network into Sacramento and San Jose to Reduce Congestion

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has signed an agreement with Traffic.com, Inc. for the installation of digital roadside traffic sensors in the San Jose and Sacramento metropolitan areas, bringing the total number of metropolitan areas covered by Traffic.com sensors to five. According to the 2005 Urban Mobility Report issued by the Texas Transportation Institute, traffic congestion cost Sacramento area drivers $619 million and San Jose drivers $823 million in 2003. These new sensors will monitor approximately 1,000 lane miles on area expressways.

"Caltrans is pleased to continue to build on our successful partnership with Traffic.com by adding San Jose and Sacramento to the metropolitan areas covered," said Randy Iwasaki, chief deputy director of Caltrans. "The state of California has been a pioneer in developing innovative public-private relationships and we are pleased to be able to expand the Traffic.com program."

Traffic.com is installing the sensor system and providing comprehensive traffic services at no cost to California State or local government agencies. As part of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funded Transportation Technology Innovation and Demonstration program (TTID), Traffic.com will pay for the construction, operational costs, and ongoing maintenance of the sensors and will also reinvest a portion of the revenue to expand the system. Traffic.com plans to place these sensors along major expressway portions of I-280, I-680 and US-101 around the San Jose area, and portions of CA-99, I-5, I-80 and US-50 near Sacramento, with completion targeted by year-end 2007.

Traffic.com will use the data collected by these new sensors and combine it with data from Caltrans' Traffic Monitoring System and the Performance Monitoring System (PeMS) to distribute digital traffic data and incident/event information to drivers in California across multiple platforms, including television, radio, Web, phone, and wireless device. This public-private partnership will supply drivers with the valuable and comprehensive traffic information they need to manage the multitude of traffic problems they encounter each day.

"At Traffic.com we are driven to deliver a quality product to our partners and consumers," said David L. Jannetta, president, Traffic.com. "We are pleased to be offering valuable, customizable traffic solutions to the 23 million people that live and work in these five areas."