PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Elizabeth River Crossings has partnered with Waze to install 156 Waze Beacons in the Downtown and Midtown Tunnels to help improve traffic flow.
Waze Beacons is an affordable, open-source solution that helps create seamless tunnel navigation. It puts an end to underground GPS signal blackout, which means better traffic flow in and out of the tunnels.
With the technology, drivers can have real-time information about construction, road closures, or emergency events that may impact the tunnels.
“Ensuring that navigation systems don’t drop out in our tunnels is just one more way we are working to maintain the safety of drivers in Norfolk, Portsmouth and beyond,” says Ryan Doyle, ERC Intelligent Transportation Systems Manager.
The service for the tunnels is free to use through the Waze app, but drivers don’t have to be using Waze to enjoy the benefits of the Beacons technology. The technology is also compatible with Google Maps for Android, and it will soon be for Google Maps for iOS as well.
Waze Beacons do not collect any data from vehicles. Instead, each Beacon uses a one-way transmission to the mobile device.
“This affordable, scalable, open-source technology is easy to install and can instantly help with tunnel navigation. At Waze we are focused on leveraging technology to promote road safety and make it easier for people to navigate throughout the world,” said Gil Disatnik, Head of the Waze Beacons Program.
The Downtown and Midtown Tunnels, operated by Elizabeth River Crossings, are the first tunnel facilities in the Commonwealth to install Waze Beacons.
Hampton Roads joins 18 other cities globally that use Waze Beacons to improve the driving experience, including New York Metro, NY; Jersey City, NJ; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Pittsburgh, PA; Paris, France; Haifa, Israel; Rio, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; Mexico City, Mexico; Brussels & Antwerp, Belgium; Florence, Italy; Oslo, Norway, and more.
