You may have noticed a revamped system of “Transit Screens” around Tysons Corner Center this holiday season. The screens were a joint venture of Wells+Associates, the company in charge of Traffic Demand Management, at Tysons Corner Center and TransitScreen, a data visualization company which focuses on transportation.
The system has taken another step towards accurate and real time data by partnering with Inrix Real-Time Traffic Information data, a high tech data collection company which uses real driver positioning to predict and detect congestion.
What’s all that mean? Most traffic visualization programs, apps, and real time transportation screens in the past have relied on road based sensors to determine where traffic was occurring. This had limitations as it would often lag behind the actual start of congestion, would be incapable of determining the level of delay, and overall had a low resolution in terms of pinpointing locations on any small roads without monitoring. New user based traffic monitoring uses the positioning of millions of data points which provides immediate congestion detection, determines the impact of that delay on speed, and is not limited to major highways.
This system is not unique, there are other competitors in the field, but the unique element of the Tysons Corner Center TransitScreens is the application of this “big data” on not only road conditions but also transit. This combination provides commuters, shoppers, and residents all available information on the myriad of transportation options available so that they can see when alternative routes might be wise. It also provides those same users a consistent visualization and assistance in determining the quickest options for them for their routine commutes as well.
Implementing this system at Tysons Corner Center is a big deal for both Tysons and regional congestion relief. The mall itself generates tens of thousands of road and transit trips every day and represents the largest single point source of traffic in Fairfax County. Being able to improve the efficiency of entries and exits for the mall means useful information for shoppers but it also means considerable transportation improvements, much needed ones during the holiday season.
