With Zoom, More Vroom on Roads?
By Dan Rafter

On Mike Fritsch's highway of the future, cars will warn each other
about traffic jams. Tractor trailers will instantly notify the
highway department about dangerous ice patches. And windshield
sensors will track weather developments in real time.

As it turns out, all this may not be too far off. Fritsch, the
president of Zoom Information Systems in Fort Wayne, Ind., has been
working since early 2004 on developing the Real-Time Transportation
Infrastructure Information System. The five-employee outfit's goal
is to allow vehicles traveling across the country to relay
information on road conditions, weather problems, traffic jams, and
route closures to state transportation departments and trucking
businesses, as well as to other cars.

"It won't be information that's delayed a half-hour or 15 minutes
from a traffic helicopter," Fritsch says. "This will be a real-time
view of where the backups are and exactly what the problems are."

SORTING DATA. The key to Zoom's system is sensors mounted on
vehicles, which would beam information to state and regional data
centers through satellite systems. Motorists would then receive
constantly updated info based on events happening in real time. For
example, sensors from a car's shock absorbers may transmit data to
highway officials that a serious pothole has emerged.

Zoom is currently fine-tuning software that will analyze this data
and, as Fritsch puts it, "put it in different buckets" depending on
type. The outfit's own computers would send weather-related data --
gathered by, say, sensors on a vehicle's windshields -- to weather
bureaus' PCs. Similarly, brake sensors could generate information on
growing traffic jams that could be relayed to motorists.

Outfitting tens of millions of cars with such sensors is a huge
proposition -- which is why it isn't part of Zoom's plan.
Manufacturers may one day start installing such devices on all their
cars and trucks, but in the meantime, Fritsch estimates that his
business needs only about 4% of vehicles on the road to ensure
reliable road data.

POWERFUL PARTNER. Zoom's system isn't on the market yet, but
Fritsch plans to start selling his technology to transportation
departments by the end of 2005. And he has reason to be optimistic.
Zoom has been invited to speak about its project during the
Transportation Research Board's annual meeting -- a major coup for
such a young company.

The small concern has also attracted a big partner in the
transportation project: Boeing (BA ). The aircraft behemoth is
working on the satellite end of the initiative. Once the
Transportation Infrastructure Information project is up and running,
vehicles will transmit their data to satellites, which will then
send the info to collection centers across the country.

Boeing benefits from increased use of its existing satellites, while
Zoom gains from a name-brand partner and the technology help it
offers. When meeting with large potential customers, Fritsch
says, "the name Boeing carries a lot of clout."

CHANGING SIGNALS. The U.S. Transportation Dept. has already adopted
its own Intelligent Transportation Systems program. Widespread use
of sensors that warn drivers if other cars are too close to allow a
safe lane change could help reduce such accidents, estimated at 2.6
million each year, by 17%, the department contends.

"It's not like all of a sudden 10 or 20 years from now, we're going
to drop in all this technology and everyone will see it," says Mark
Norman, director of technical activities for the Transportation
Research Board. "It has been around for a while, and it will
continue to grow and evolve."

Intelligent Transportation Systems are evident in traffic signals
that switch from red to green faster or slower depending on the
amount of traffic building up at an intersection. The technology is
visible also in the message signs that line highways and warn
motorists of upcoming delays or road closures. As the sensor
technology improves, Norman sees an increasing number of
applications -- and potential for startups like Zoom. "The sky is
the limit," he says.

HOOSIER FUNDS. Fritsch, who ran a technology consultancy before
founding Zoom, has been interested in real-time communication
applications for more than a decade. But it wasn't until this year
that he was able to make Zoom a reality. Because the technology was
largely unknown, convincing investors to sign on was a significant
hurdle.

He finally found support from the state of Indiana. Last year, Zoom
nabbed a $1.5 million Indiana 21st Century Research & Technology
Fund grant, which provides funds to innovative companies in the
Hoosier State.

"You have to show them that what you have is a good idea and has a
good chance of happening," Fritsch says. "We were able to show the
state that we could sell this product to several different
industries."

DOWN THE ROAD. Besides transportation departments, Zoom's
technology could also benefit businesses that need to know where
their shipments are and the most efficient routes to their
customers, as well as other concerns directly affected by the
weather.

However, Zoom must deal with the challenge that until enough
vehicles are outfitted with sensors, the technology's full benefits
won't be seen. To overcome this, Fritsch incessantly promotes his
system's multiple uses and how the scheme can save companies and
government agencies money over the long haul. If potholes are
identified in their early stages, the pitch goes, road crews can
repair them before they grow larger, ultimately saving on
maintenance costs.

"The hardest part about getting something like this in place is that
in almost all markets today, people are looking for an immediate
return on their investment," Fritsch says. "It's hard to sell
something that will pay off in five years. If people are paying a
couple million dollars for a system, they want to know it will save
them twice that immediately." The road to the future, it seems, is
never smooth.