Advanced Traveller Information System

Surrey's Advanced Traveller Information System (ATIS) is designed to improve the mobility, safety, and user experience of everyone who uses our transportation system. The data an ATIS produces also helps transportation professionals make better informed decisions to further enhance improvements to mobility.

Surrey's ATIS, which launched in December 2019 after rigorous testing, includes three Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) that show estimated travel times to City Centre on three adjacent routes.

Dynamic message sign locations

The routes to City Centre that will be displayed for each of the three DMS locations are:

Westbound on 104 Avenue at 154A Street
1. 100 AVE
2. 104 AVE
3. 108 AVE

Northbound on King George Boulevard in the 5500 block
1. 132 ST
2. K.G. BLVD
3. 140 ST

Southbound on the 152 Street off ramp from Highway 1
1. 108 AVE
2. 104 AVE
3. 100 AVE

How the system works

Surrey’s ATIS is programmed to use green, orange, and red text colours that correspond to increasingly longer travel times for each given route. Travel times posted are estimated from recent data detected by our BlueTooth sensors.

This information will allow drivers familiar with Surrey roads to make informed decisions about their route choice and balance out the delays on parallel corridors. Individual drivers’ travel times may vary from the estimated times calculated by the System. The messaging on the signs should also reduce a driver's use of handheld devices to evaluate their driving options.

Additional important messages for motorists may be posted on the ATIS signs by Surrey’s Traffic Management Centre staff including information about collisions, construction, severe weather or road conditions, AMBER Alerts, and safe driving reminders.

How we collect the travel time information

Surrey's ATIS works with BlueTooth technology to display estimated travel times. All BlueTooth devices have a unique ID assigned to them called a MAC address. We installed 50 BlueTooth sensors at select traffic signals for the ATIS project in spring 2018.

When a traveller’s BlueTooth-enabled device, such as a phone, tablet, or vehicle BlueTooth system, is detected by a BlueTooth sensor, information from that device is sent to our Traffic Management Centre and analyzed by a computer to report travel time information.

BlueTooth MAC address IDs are completely anonymous and not traceable to individuals. The BlueTooth sensors are configured to encrypt device MAC address IDs to further protect the privacy of individuals.

The travel time information is updated on the Dynamic Message Signs every minute. As the system relies on actual travel data to calculate new times, there are periods where routes may not show information due to lack of available real time data.