BLIDS - a bluetooth/WiFi based traffic data collection system for use in urban an interurban roads

Mobility is one of the basic needs of today’s people. The amount of motor vehicles is ever increasing because of this. Hence there is more and more traffic load on every road, especially in and around urban areas. The maximum capacity of those roads is more and more often reached during peak hours, traffic jams and long travel time is the result. In big cities with high vehicle traffic numbers, it is necessary to operate traffic data collection systems for the control center. One of the most compelling sensor class is the Bluetooth/WiFi-based traffic sensor, which is a non-intrusive and inexpensive alternative to LPR (License Plate Recognition) systems. BLIDS-sensors, mounted next to the road, detect unique BT/WiFi-IDs from devices such as mobile phones and navigation systems that come within the reception range of the sensor. This unique BT/WiFi IDs are made anonymous and stored together with highly accurate exact time stamps directly on the sensor before they are transmitted to the BLIDS-server system. From the information gathered from at least two sensors, real-time traffic information (e.g. travel-times, traffic jams, dwell time at intersections, origin/destination analysis as well as traffic flows) can be calculated. The BLIDS network provides a wide range of applications. It starts with the installation of mobile solutions to provide temporary measurements and ends with fixed installations. This paper examines the measures and preconditions that need to be fulfilled for a thorough usage of BLIDS sensors in strategic route management systems