WTOP Signs Agreement to Use Trichord Traffic Viewer to Provide Real-Time Traffic Data to Listeners and Online Visitors

LEESBURG, Va., Sept. 2 -- The WTOP Radio Network is known for helping listeners avoid Washington area traffic congestion. Now real-time information on WTOPnews.com is driving Web traffic straight to the site. Trichord, Inc. of Leesburg, Virginia, and WTOP announced an agreement where Washington's only all-news radio network will use the Trichord Traffic Viewer to enhance its on-air traffic reporting, providing interstate drivers in Northern Virginia with additional real-time information on traffic congestion. WTOPnews.com will also update its online congestion map displaying real-time traffic-movement data from Trichord's network of traffic sensors.

"Bob Marbourg will be able to see actual traffic speeds on major arteries like the Beltway in Virginia and I-66," said Jim Farley, WTOP V.P. of News and Programming. "Bob was named the 'dean of Washington traffic reporters' by The Washington Post for keeping commuters in the loop with reports from our planes, helicopters, highway cameras and from WTOP listeners who call him on their cell phones. With the online Traffic Viewer we have potentially the most cutting edge traffic information in the entire Washington area."

Visitors to WTOPnews.com can see much of the same information Marbourg uses as the Traffic Viewer interprets real-time traffic speed data and displays it on a congestion map of the Washington DC area. The service is free to WTOP listeners and on-line viewers. Road segments are color-coded according to how fast traffic is currently moving. The information is gleaned from a network of 143 traffic sensor stations located throughout Northern Virginia's interstate highway system. The sensor network gathers lane-by-lane data on travel speeds, lane occupancy, and vehicle counts. Trichord's traffic monitoring software archives the data, allowing current estimated travel times to be compared against historical average travel times. Information is updated every minute.

Commuters who want more personalized, targeted information may subscribe to the Trichord Traffic Viewer. The full version, when loaded onto a laptop with a wireless internet connection, becomes a "wireless traffic management system on a desktop" that can be used practically anywhere -- allowing anyone who needs a comprehensive picture of current traffic conditions to get exactly that, no matter where they happen to be.

"Trichord is pleased to have WTOP as the exclusive radio distributor of our real-time traffic information," said Craig Franklin, Trichord's president. "WTOP is far and away the leader for DC Metro traffic information. Commuters who travel freeways in Northern Virginia every day will be able to use the Traffic Viewer through WTOP's Web site to determine the congestion they face and the travel time required."

WTOP Radio is Washington's only all-news radio station. It's traffic, weather, and news programming is broadcast over 107.7 FM, 1500 AM, 820 AM and worldwide on WTOPnews.com.

Trichord, Inc. provides systems integration and technology consulting for Intelligent Transportation Systems, Geographic Information Systems, Traveler Information and Emergency Management. Under a Public-Private Partnership with the Virginia Department of Transportation, Trichord has deployed real-time traffic monitors in Northern Virginia and augments data from those monitors with data from VDOT. Trichord shares this combined information with VDOT to enhance the agency's traffic management capabilities.