SafeTrip-21 Brings Innovative Technologies to Improve Safety and Mobility to the East Coast
U.S. DOT Announces Partnership with I-95 Corridor Coalition

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Contact RITA 03-08 Kim Riddle 202-366-5128

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - It will soon be a lot easier for I-95 travelers to get information about traffic backups, construction information and other delays thanks to a new $6.4 million partnership announced by Paul R. Brubaker, Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).

"The goal is to make it easier to learn about traffic backups on I-95 than it is to find the next gas station," said Administrator Brubaker.

 "Since 1993, the members of the I-95 Corridor Coalition have maintained a strong relationship with the U.S. Department of Transportation.  We look forward to working with the Department to test and evaluate the public benefit of innovative travel information services," said George Schoener, executive director of the I-95 Corridor Coalition.

The program will help the Coalition continue testing vehicle probes to provide travel time information along the East Coast.  After this information has been verified, commuters in selected areas of the I-95 corridor will have the potential – through a variety of information resources – to make more informed travel decisions. For example, the North Carolina Department of Transportation will be able to better monitor travel through work zone areas so it can advise approaching motorists of queues and speed limits to achieve safer and more efficient operation.

In June, the Department launched the first SafeTrip-21 partnership in the San Francisco Bay area.  Advanced technologies developed as part of this initiative are currently on display at the 15^th ITS World Congress in New York City.

The award to I-95 Corridor Coalition, through the University of Maryland, is part of the Department's new SafeTrip-21 initiative, which supports the use of advanced technology to improve safety, improve public transportation services, and reduce gridlock on America's roadways.