Patent ID: 8519868

Claim:
A system to determine a traffic condition from a first vehicle carrying a Bluetooth enabled communicating device, comprising: a traffic management system having a processor; a first communication link at a first roadside location that sends a first inquiry message and that receives information identifying the Bluetooth enabled communication device in the first vehicle when the first vehicle is near the first roadside location, the first communication link having a processor that generates a first timestamped signal by timestamping the received information identifying the Bluetooth enabled communication device in the first vehicle with an identifier that is valid for a pre-defined period and a communication circuit that transmits the first timestamped signal to the traffic management system, based on an opting in to the system; a second communication link at a second roadside location that sends an inquiry message and that receives information identifying the Bluetooth enabled communication device in the first vehicle when the first vehicle is near the second roadside location, the second communication link having a processor that generates a second timestamped signal by timestamping the received information identifying the Bluetooth enabled communication device in the first vehicle and a communication circuit that transmits the second timestamped signal to the traffic management system; wherein the processor in the traffic management system determines a travel time between the first and the second roadside locations using at least the first timestamped signal and the second timestamped signal; and a traffic controller provided with Bluetooth capabilities and enabled to pair with the Bluetooth enabled communication device in the first vehicle enabled to provide traffic information to a display on the first vehicle to display traffic information associated with the travel time.