Utah DOT installed 10 Bluetooth readers for $40,000 to monitor work zone traffic conditions during a nine month project. O&M was estimated at $33,000.

Experience using Bluetooth readers to support traffic mobility monitoring at work zones in Salt Lake City.

Made Public Date
12/19/2014
Identifier
2014-SC00334
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Summary Information

The purpose of this project was to install Bluetooth technology on the Bangerter Highway (SH-154) in Salt Lake City, Utah to monitor traffic during construction to assure mobility in the work zone was maintained in conformance with a performance-based contract specification.

The Utah DOT (UDOT) used the Bluetooth system to monitor work zone travel times. Bluetooth detectors were installed by securing them to roadside infrastructure and mounting them high enough to deter theft and vandalism. Data were transmitted from the antenna at regular intervals to a server that matched Bluetooth addresses detected at successive antennas and computed the elapsed time between them.

The following costs data were excerpted from the source report.

SYSTEM COSTS

The Bluetooth antennas were either solar or battery powered, and included both GPS and cellular communication capabilities.

The cost of Bluetooth readers equipped with GPS and cellular communications ranged from $4,000 to $5,000 per device. The low cost included a battery-powered antenna and the high cost included a solar-powered antenna.

UDOT purchased and installed a total of 10 units at a total cost of about $40,000. Another $33,000 was spent on system operation (data access) and maintenance costs for the vendor.

System Cost

Bluetooth readers: $40K (10 readers) O&M: $33K