Traffic Alert!

1. Traffic Alert!

2. The Problem • Since 1982 The US population has increased 19%, the number of registered motor vehicles has increased 36%, and the number of miles traveled has increased 72%, however road capacity has only been increased by 5% 1 • Newport News / Virginia Beach commuters lose an average of about 25 hours per year due to traffic 2 • The wasted time cost Americans 5.7 billion gallons of fuel and approximately $67.5 billion ( 0.7% of the national GDP) in 2000 3 • There are also smaller scale problems such as wear and tear on a vehicle, inability for a fast emergency response, road rage etc… 1. http://www.ntweek.org/publications/ARTBA_Congestion.pdf 2. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0855647.html 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion

3. Current Solutions • The Virginia 610 AM traffic broadcast • VDOT Traffic Cams • Navigation devices that can supposedly “guide” you around traffic

4. My Solution • Implement a web interface that allows the user to plot their route. The user should then see the various VDOT cameras along that route on their computer • Each driver will have a username tied to a cell phone number, and when the user is stuck in traffic they can call/text message the system and it will text all of traffic updates along their route back to them

5. Pros and Cons Pros • This system will run in real time so that drivers get up to date information when they need it • It will be cheap and have little to no startup cost for the user • This could easily be sold as a subscription service allowing the drivers to stop using it when they want Cons • Text messaging could be made illegal in Virginia • Aside from the obvious safety issues associated with cell phones and driving, this could create serious legal liability issues • Could get expensive if the user does not have unlimited text messaging

6. Gratuitous Angry Driver