Traffic Alert!
The Problem
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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
Current Solutions
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The Virginia 610 AM traffic broadcast
VDOT Traffic Cams
Navigation devices that can supposedly
“guide” you around traffic
My Solution
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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
Pros and Cons
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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
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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
Gratuitous Angry Driver