Information Highways
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans will oversee implementation of the 511 Driving Times system, which will eventually estimate travel times throughout most of California’s Bay Area.
Some 150 sensors will be installed along Interstate 80 and parts of Highway 101 and Interstate 880 to track speeds of vehicles equipped with FasTrak devices.
The first stage of the program is scheduled to begin in roughly 90 days. Information gathered from the sensors will be sent to a government database.
Drivers can call the 511 travel information line to hear the latest updates on travel conditions, while legislators can use the information to plan future road improvements.
However, privacy advocates are concerned that the information could be used to track individual vehicles and issue speeding tickets.
Electronic Privacy Information Center executive director Marc Rotenberg says safeguards are needed to ensure information obtained from the system is not misused, given the climate of expanded government access to databases following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the San Jose Mercury News (06/08/03) P. 1; Reang, Putsata.