The Connecticut Department of Transportation recently launched CTroads.org; an interactive system to help get road users, drivers, and passengers to their destination safely and efficiently, the agency said.
[Above image by the Connecticut DOT]
The Connecticut DOT said CTroads is the new name for CT Travel Smart, an online traffic map for real-time travel information that originally launched in 2017. The new name is easy to remember and clearly reflects its purpose of roadway travel, noted Joe Giulietti, Connecticut DOT commissioner, in a statement.
“It is innovative and its technology helps keep Connecticut moving with real-time alerts and personalized route tracking,” he said. “CTroads may be the new name, but the technology is the same great service people rely on every day. And we’re happy to say that CT Travel Smart subscribers are already CTroads subscribers without lifting a finger.”
The CTroads system – a free service that works on all phones and devices – incorporates data collected from the Connecticut DOT Statewide Intelligent Transportation System Network and Highway Operations Center. It provides real-time travel information in a customizable, personalized way and offers additional features such as trip planning and subscription services. Providing this information in real-time helps reduce traffic congestion for motorists traveling around or through the state.
CTroads.org also provides a view of all traffic cameras, a list of all message signs around the state, construction updates, weather alerts and radar, ferry status updates, and more. Users can register to create custom alerts for delivery by email or text message.
State departments of transportation across the country are involved in a variety of projects that gather and disseminate real-time roadway information to motorists and others.
For example, in November 2021, the Southwest Research Institute kicked off an $8 million project to develop a data exchange platform for the Florida Department of Transportation so the agency can analyze and communicate road conditions in real-time to the traveling public, state and local government entities, plus other stakeholders.
In addition to real-time analysis, the platform will also support analysis of long-term historic data enabling data-driven infrastructure investments and various research initiatives, SwRI noted.
In June 2021, the North Carolina Department of Transportation began collaborating with Intelligent Imaging Systems – a Canada-based company that provides innovative connected-truck technology, including in-cab communications – to reduce the risk of commercial truck crashes due to work zone activity and other traffic slowdowns.
NCDOT has contracted with Intelligent Imaging Systems to pilot test this system for a year via the Drivewyze notification service to truckers traveling all 182 miles of Interstate 95 in North Carolina as well as rural portions of Interstate 40.
The new alerts will have messages such as “Sudden Slowdown Ahead” and “Congestion Ahead” about two or three miles before commercial truck drivers encounter the slowed traffic or incident based on real-time data provided by INRIX.
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