For the first time ever, you can gather accurate volume, rate, and speed measurements of automobiles and bicycles, then easily upload and map the information to a central online database.

The TrafficCOMputer works like other traffic counters, but has two key differences: lower cost and open data. At 1/10th price of the least expensive comparable product, TrafficCOM is affordable. The TrafficCOM Data Uploader allows you to seamlessly upload and map your latest traffic count data, making it instantly available to anyone online.

The TrafficCOM system is Patent Pending.

Collectively, the TrafficCOMmunity has the potential to build a rich repository of traffic count data for bike paths, city alley ways, neighborhood streets, and busy boulevards from around the world. With a better understanding of automobile and bicycle ridership patterns, we can inform the design of better cities and towns.

TrafficCOM is an important addition to the process of measuring the impact of transportation design, and creating livable streets by adding bicycle lanes, public spaces, and developing smart transportation management systems. By creating open-data, we can increase governmental transparency, and provide constituencies with the essential data they need to advocate for rational and necessary improvements to the design, maintenance, and policy of transportation systems. 

Creators

TrafficCOM is a project by Ted Ullrich, an engineer and industrial designer from product development studio Tomorrow Lab, and Aurash Khawarzad, an urban planner from planning studio Change Administration. Both companies are located in New York City.

Press Kit

Download Presskit
Contains high-res photos and press release text. (25mb)

Development History

TrafficCOM started as a v0.1 breadboard in NYC in July 2012. The goal was to develop an inexpensive way to count bikes traveling along a path.

In August 2012, we developed and brought v0.2 to a workshop in Moscow, Russia at STRELKA Institute. At this workshop, we developed bi-lingual assembly instructions with Russian students and made improvements to the device and software, creating v0.3. Version 0.3 units were capable of counting both cars and bikes. The units were deployed and tested in and around Moscow.

In October 2012, we produced v0.4 units for the Urban Prototyping event in San Francisco. Basic web-based functionality for retrieving & erasing the stored data was also introduced. The devices were tested in the streets of San Francisco, shown to the public, and given to a number of SF-based activists to test.

In November 2012, we created v0.5 of the device and launched a full TrafficCOM website. The device allowed use with both a car and bicycles. The addition of the TrafficCOM website was a major improvement to the TrafficCOM platform, allowing users to seamlessly upload and Google Map their data. Articles were featured in Atlantic Cities and FastCo Magazine. In December 2012, we made a limited number of V0.5 devices available for sale on the TrafficCOM website.

We are continuing to improve and add features to the device for its next release.