Smart Technologies for Traffic
A delicately interwoven network of processes, smart technology for traffic aid transport personnel, drivers and commuters improve efficiency and flow of traffic. Intelligent traffic systems can adjust control mechanisms such as traffic lights and freeway onramp meters as well as bus rapid transit lanes. They also employ advanced IoT routers and hardware that use cellular technology as well as mobile networks. They can also assist in forecasting changes in traffic demand and provide a range of real-time information to road users.
Pittsburgh’s adaptive traffic signal system is an excellent example. When Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) professor Stephen Smith installed his first couple of traffic signals, which were merely experimental, in a heavily congested area of the city’s East Liberty, he saw immediate results: Drivers travelled 25 percent faster and spent 40 percent less time in traffic jams than they had before.
The system collects data from sensors that track the traffic flow and adjust their timing on-the-fly. It detects pedestrians at intersections, and allows them enough time to cross the street safely. The sensors transmit their raw data into the central hub, where it is processed by artificial intelligence. The data is then transmitted back to the intersections by 5G-enabled cell networks.
These advanced systems permit better and more accurate modeling of scenarios that reduce risk, which human traffic managers are unable to do. And all of this is in real-time. This is an important step toward Vision Zero, a goal of safe driving where motorists and pedestrians share the road without collisions.