Jersey Turnpike Buys System to Predict When You Will Be Sitting in Traffic

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority said it hopes to begin alerting motorists to traffic jams -- 10 minutes before they occur.

The agency, which manages the two main toll roads in the most densely populated U.S. state, approved the awarding of a $652,000 contract to En Pointe Technologies Inc.

The El Segundo, California-based company has a computer system that is designed to give drivers an early heads-up on developing traffic jams, to allow them more time to detour away from congestion, Brian Gorman, director of technology, told members of the authority’s board at their regular meeting today.

The system was tested on the 148-mile (238-kilometer) New Jersey Turnpike and the 173-mile Garden State Parkway, which stretches from Cape May to the New York state line. It predicted traffic with at least 90 percent accuracy, Gorman said. Motorists will be alerted to potential problems through electronic signage on the highways.

“We do have the ability to prevent congestion disruption,” Gorman said.

The traffic-prediction tool, which uses software from International Business Machines Corp. of Armonk, New York, is already in use on highways in Singapore and Stockholm, Gorman said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dunstan McNichol in Trenton at dmcnichol@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net