Federal Transportation Dept Audit Explores Traffic.com Concerns

The concerns run from simple ones like reliability of the sensor network, to more complex ones revolving around data licensing:  the data from the company’s federally funded sensors is not available to local, state and federal governments to use in real time without payment. Promised revenue sharing with local and state partners (no funds were ever distributed, though Traffic.com does sell the data to many organizations). Also bothersome is the DOTs response to findings detailed in an audit by the Transportation Department’s inspector general provided to the NYTimes before it will be made public. The DOT simply cited “nine letters from members of Congress — many of whom had received frequent campaign contributions from executives at Traffic.com — who demanded, among other requests, that it skip a competitive bidding process and give more money to Traffic.com.”

Representative Anthony D. Weiner (NY) requested the audit. He suggests the government should cancel the now 10 year old Traffic.com agreement, “reclaim the equipment and put the project back out to bid under new terms.” Traffic.com is now owned by NAVTEQ.

- NY Times