New York Agencies Recognized for Giving Commuters Real-Time Information to Avoid Traffic Congestion

WASHINGTON, DC – The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) recently recognized the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and TRANSCOM, a coalition of 16 transportation and public safety agencies in the New York City region, for providing area commuters and travelers with real-time information to help avoid traffic congestion and find the most convenient travel routes.  MTA and TRANSCOM were also honored with the ITS Project of the Year Award by the Intelligent Transportation Society of New York, the New York State Chapter of ITS America.

MTA and TRANSCOM were recognized by the nation’s largest transportation technology organization with a Smart Solution Spotlight award for using innovative technology – known as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) – to save commuters time and reduce traffic delays along major corridors, including bridges and tunnels.  

Commuters can access real-time traffic information on MTA’s website at www.traveltime.mta.info, including travel times for the agency’s seven bridges and two tunnels.  The site is updated every five minutes to give motorists the most up-to-date information.  Having recently expanded Transmit, the regional traffic monitoring system operated by TRANSCOM, MTA also provides motorists with real-time travel information for major regional destinations and connecting highways via electronic message signs, allowing drivers to make smarter on-the-road decisions about which route to take.  

“Giving motorists real travel time information not only allows drivers to make more informed driving choices, it also helps us improve traffic flow,” said MTA Bridges and Tunnels Chief Technology Officer Tariq Habib. “Drivers heading across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from Brooklyn can now decide whether to take the upper or lower level of the bridge depending on the Real Time sign, and by directing traffic to the level with the fewest vehicles we are able to balance the flow of traffic.”

One sign just before entering the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Brooklyn tells Staten Island-bound drivers how long it will take to reach the toll plaza on both the upper and lower levels. “By directing traffic to the level that has the least amount of vehicles at that particular time we are able to balance the flow of traffic,” Habib said. Another Verrazano message gives real travel time to the Goethals Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing.

The Manhattan-bound electronic message sign before the Henry Hudson Bridge toll plaza provides motorists the time to 57th Street in Manhattan, while signs at the RFK Bridge in the Bronx give travel time to the Long Island and Brooklyn Queens Expressways via the Grand Central Parkway, and in Queens to the George Washington Bridge via the Major Deegan Expressway or the Harlem River Drive. 

Other messages may include information to area airports like JFK and La Guardia and Yankee Stadium and CitiField, home of the New York Mets.

MTA provides information for the following bridges and tunnels:  Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge, Henry Hudson Bridge, Marine Parkway Bridge, Queens Midtown Tunnel, Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, Throgs Neck Bridge and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. 

To learn more about the project, contact MTA Press Office at 212-878-7440.

About the Intelligent Transportation Society of America

ITS America is the leading advocate for ITS technology development and deployment in the United States.  ITS America was established in 1991 as a not-for-profit organization to foster the use of advanced technologies across America’s surface transportation system.  Members include private companies and industry leaders, government agencies at all levels, universities and research laboratories.  For more information, visit www.itsa.org.