Real-time info Traffic sensors installed on bay area highways

OAKLAND, Calif. -- In about a month, traffic sensors being installed along San Francisco Bay area highways will be able to track a quarter million drivers along their commutes.

Proponents say the $37 million addition to the region's electronic toll system will give motorists real-time information about some of the nation's worst road congestion via cell phone, radio or Internet. Traffic planners say they will be able to gather crucial data on problem areas.

But the new "TravInfo" program is raising fears that drivers' privacy will be invaded.

"I personally am a little creeped out by it," said interior designer Heidi Hirvonen-White, who crosses the Golden Gate Bridge between Tiburon and San Francisco. "In today's society it seems like any sort of code or whatnot can be broken."

Similar to systems in Houston and the New York region, the Bay area's FasTrak program already eases waits at toll plazas by enabling motorists to pay with electronic sensors Velcroed to car windshields.

Now, radio-based sensors mounted on highway signs every few miles will record the times that FasTrak-equipped cars pass by. The only way to avoid triggering the sensors in nine Bay Area counties is to stash the transponder in its accompanying Mylar bag.

Project leaders at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission say they're not interested in individual drivers' movements and have gone to great lengths to protect privacy, including encrypting the serial number of each transponder.

Separating data

Authorities promise to keep this data separate from the identities of FasTrak users and information needed to make automatic monthly deductions from their bank or credit card accounts.

"We're not tracking or trying to follow any individual car, just the overall traffic flow," TravInfo project manager Michael Berman said.

TravInfo is only the latest example of the growing phenomenon of remote monitoring. Many rental fleets and trucking companies already use satellite positioning systems to track cars and cargo.

Companies promote similar products for keeping tabs on kids, Alzheimer's patients or cheating spouses.

Washington is also promoting locator technology. By October, the Federal Communications Commission wants cell phones equipped with locator technology to help emergency responders find callers, and even track users' road speeds.

Transponder data has already been used in court.

In 1997, E-ZPass records helped show where kidnappers took New Jersey restaurant millionaire Nelson Gross, whose BMW crossed the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan, where his beaten corpse was found.

No tweaking

The MTC -- along with its partners, the California Highway Patrol and the state transportation department -- has received no requests from law enforcement to tweak the system so drivers could be pursued, Berman said, adding, "I think if they were to request it, we would say no. That's not our job."

But privacy advocates say that once the sensors are in place, there's nothing to prevent such a change.

In Texas, 1.5 million commuters use a similar traffic information service, said Artee Jones, spokesman for Houston TranStar, which incorporates similar privacy measures.

Few FasTrak users said they'd give up the shorter toll booth lines or discounts to avoid participating.

But Michael Pieri of Richmond said he'll still stash the transponder away between tolls.

"That's fine if you volunteer for that," he said. "But involuntarily, I don't think it's a good thing at all."