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Tracking traffic with BlueTOAD:
The BlueTOAD name is catchy, but what really caught our attention is when the Illinois and Wisconsin media started reporting on how those states have begun using the company’s technology to measure traffic on congested freeway sections. TrafficCast uses a system of sensor boxes mounted on light poles along the freeway. The sensors pick up the media access control, or MAC address, from cell phones, navigation systems and laptops in passing vehicles and the signals from Bluetooth enabled vehicles themselves.
TrafficCast CEO Neal Campbell explained how the system works. "We simply detect the Bluetooth signal that might be going by a passing antenna, we time stamp that, we look for that same Bluetooth signal some miles down the road, we do another time stamp, and we take all that information back to our data center and do a simple compute of the travel time," he told Chicago station WLS-TV. The system is sophisticated enough that it can filter out signals from passing commuter trains that could have passengers with dozens of Bluetooth enabled devices onboard.
BlueTOAD stands for Bluetooth Travel-time Origination And Destination. Transportation officials say motorists using Bluetooth enabled devices need not worry about being watched by the government, since the address information on each Bluetooth enabled device is erased after a short time, and only the travel time is recorded.
