The State Highway Administration has been awarded a $200,000 federal planning grant for the installation of a state-of-the-art real-time travel information system on three congested traffic arteries between Baltimore and Washington, the Federal Highway Administration said Tuesday.
The work will cover Interstate 95 and Route 295 between Baltimore and Washington and Route 1 between Route 32 and Interstate 695, the FHA said.
The state will have to provide $50,000 in matching funds for the project.
The system, known as "Integrated Corridor Management" or ICM, would allow the SHA to "combine numerous information technologies and real-time travel information from highway, rail, and transit operations" to better inform travelers of congestion in the region, the FHA said.
"Travelers can use real-time information to avoid congestion and find alternate routes or transportation systems, such as transit or rail," the FHA said. "Shippers can receive information concerning the entire network, not just one route. Such tools can help engineers make better decisions about congestion management by recommending where traffic should flow and onto which systems commuters should be shifted based on up-to-the-second data."
The ICM grant was one of 13, totaling $2.571 million, announced by the FHA on Tuesday for "highly congested urban areas" in 10 different states, after the technology was successfully piloted in San Diego and Dallas.
Regionally, the Virginia transportation department also received $200,000 for congested highways there, as well as rail, Metro and commuter bus lines.
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