Stuck in Traffic? DOT Wants an App to Prevent That.

The Transportation Department’s Intelligent Transportation Systems division is after new smart sensors that can measure everything from road conditions and traffic density to visibility, according to a request for information released Monday.

Data from the sensors will be incorporated into new Dynamic Mobility Applications the office is working on to make transportation safer and more efficient.

The RFI is aimed at finding out whether the data sources necessary for those new applications already exist or if DOT funding or certification is necessary to bring them online.

The RFI envisions one or more applications that people would carry with them from vehicle to vehicle rather than devices that live in the vehicles themselves.

Several data-crunching firms have advertised systems to reroute city buses and long-haul trucks around traffic jams and accidents using Global Positioning Systems and other data. Sensor technology such as the DOT is describing might ultimately be used to reduce congestion and pollution by routing drivers around accidents and regulating traffic flow so jams don’t occur.