Application of bluetooth technology to rural freeway speed data collection

Bluetooth data collection devices are an innovative technique for measuring travel times and speeds on roadway segments. This project developed a system capable of recording Bluetooth MAC addresses with a timestamp and determining the space mean speed of vehicles between multiple nodes. Battery powered and solar powered nodes are developed for the project. Various deployments of the nodes are utilized to determine the ideal placements and distances. The nodes are utilized in determining capacity of work zones by using travel speeds and times as surrogate measures of congestion. Nodes are also used to detect incidents based on increased Bluetooth device hit counts. Recommendations for node spacing are made for rural and urban areas.