Bluetooth Travel Sensors - Individual Address Files (IAFs)
This dataset contains information about Bluetooth devices detected by our Bluetooth travel sensors. Each record contains a detected device’s anonymized Media Access Control (MAC) address along with the time and location the device was detected. These records alone are not traffic data but can be post-processed to measure the movement of detected devices through the roadway network
How does the City of Austin use the Bluetooth travel sensor data?
The data enables transportation engineers to better understand short and long-term trends in Austin’s traffic patterns, supporting decisions about systems planning and traffic signal timing.
What information does the data contain?
The sensor data is available in three datasets:
Individual Address Records ( https://data.austintexas.gov/dataset/Bluetooth-Travel-Sensors-Individual-Addresses/qnpj-zrb9/data )
Each row in this dataset represents a Bluetooth device that was detected by one of our sensors. Each record contains a detected device’s anonymized Media Access Control (MAC) address along with the time and location the device was detected. These records alone are not traffic data but can be post-processed to measure the movement of detected devices through the roadway network
Individual Traffic Matches ( https://data.austintexas.gov/dataset/Bluetooth-Travel-Sensors-Individual-Traffic-Matche/x44q-icha/data )
Each row in this dataset represents one Bluetooth enabled device that detected at two locations in the roadway network. Each record contains a detected device’s anonymized Media Access Control (MAC) address along with contain information about origin and destination points at which the device was detected, as well the time, date, and distance traveled.
Traffic Summary Records ( https://data.austintexas.gov/dataset/Bluetooth-Travel-Sensors-Match-Summary-Records/v7zg-5jg9 )
The traffic summary records contain aggregate travel time and speed summaries based on the individual traffic match records. Each row in the dataset summarizes average travel time and speed along a sensor-equipped roadway segment in 15 minute intervals.
Does this data contain personally identifiable information?
No. The Media Access Control (MAC) addresses in these datasets are randomly generated.
Columns
| Name | Socrata field name | Column name in sgr mount | Data type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record ID | record_id | record_id | Text | The record identifier matched with unique devices, which is generated as an MD5 hash of the row contents. |
| Device Address | device_address | device_address | Text | The unique address of the device that was read by the field software. For security, the source MAC address is discarded and replaced with a unique address that is reset daily. |
| Field Device Read Time | field_device_read_time | field_device_read_time | Calendar date | The time the bluetooth device recorded the read. |
| Host Read Time | host_read_time | host_read_time | Calendar date | The time the bluetooth host software recorded the device read. |
| Reader Identifier | reader_identifier | reader_identifier | Text | The unique identifier assigned to a sensor that recorded a device address. |