RELEASE: CONTACT:

IMMEDIATE Erika Ricks 757-424-9940 erika.ricks@VDOT.virginia.gov Tiffany Elliott 757-925-1660

HRO-2 Jan. 11, 2005

VDOT PARTNERS WITH TRAFFICLAND TO PROVIDE MOTORISTS WITH AN ADDITIONAL TRAVEL RESOURCE Hampton Roads Added To Ever Growing Inventory of Statewide Camera Coverage

VIRGINIA BEACH – Motorists traveling through Hampton Roads now have an additional resource for checking traffic conditions before they hit the highway. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and TrafficLand, Inc., out of Fairfax, Va., have partnered to provide Hampton Roads motorists access to real-time video of traffic conditions stretching from Virginia Beach to Baltimore on their personal computers.

“This innovative public/private partnership is just one more way VDOT is leveraging existing network infrastructure and advanced technology to bring important new services to our citizens,” said Stephany Hanshaw, VDOT Hampton Roads Smart Traffic Center Facility Manager.

While VDOT camera images in Hampton Roads are already available through PilotOnline and are used by other media outlets in reporting traffic conditions, the TrafficLand partnership offers real-time video views from over 100 cameras on Interstates 64, 264 and 564, as well as more than 300 traffic cameras throughout the Washington, D.C. Metro and Suburban areas, Baltimore/Annapolis, Richmond and the I-81 corridor in western Virginia. In coming months, TrafficLand will also launch real-time services wherein motorists can receive traffic camera data on their Web-enabled cell phones.

Users of the online database will be able to see what the traffic controllers at the Smart Traffic Center see. These cameras have full tilt/pan/zoom capability, so users may actually see the cameras moving to focus on an incident or scan the highway while they are online. Viewers will have no control over the direction the cameras point, but will see the traffic network as the traffic controllers view it, in real time.

TrafficLand was chosen last year as VDOT’s contractor to take the raw traffic camera feeds and to provide a mechanism for those feeds to be shared with the public. VDOT and TrafficLand are also working with media partners throughout the rest of the state to expand the distribution of this traffic data to as many motorists as possible.

“We are working to find new and innovative ways to cut down on commute times and provide various levels of traffic information,” said Larry Nelson, TrafficLand president.

TrafficLand provides real-time, video-based electronic traffic information services for consumer, public safety, commercial, government and media markets. Working together under a public-private partnership with state departments of transportation, the company offers Web-based products and services that combine data and video in various applications for use by different audiences including emergency services personnel.

To view the traffic cameras, visit www.trafficland.com or www.VirginiaDOT.org.

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