Smart technologies for traffic are a delicately woven web of processes that help transport personnel, drivers, and commuters control the flow and efficiency of traffic. Intelligent traffic systems can adjust the controls of traffic lights as well as freeway onramp meters, and bus rapid transit lanes. They also employ advanced IoT routers and hardware, cellular technology and cell networks. They can also assist in forecasting shifts in traffic demand, and provide a range of real-time information to road users.
Pittsburgh’s adaptive traffic signal system is a perfect example. When Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) professor Stephen Smith installed his first few traffic signals that were experimental in the heavily congested area of the city’s East Liberty, he saw immediate results: drivers traveled 25 percent farther and spent 40 percent less time in traffic jams than before.
The system collects data from sensors that track the traffic flow and adjust their timings on the fly. It also detects pedestrians at intersections, and allows them enough time to cross the street safely. The sensors send their raw data into a central hub where it is processed by artificial intelligence. The data is then transmitted back to the intersections via 5G-enabled cell networks.
These advanced systems permit better and more accurate modeling of scenarios that reduce risk, which a human traffic manager cannot achieve. All this in real-time. This is a significant step towards Vision Zero, the goal of a road with no accidents where cars and human beings are able to travel together without collision.