A delicately woven together network of processes, smart technology for traffic aid transport personnel, drivers and commuters improve efficiency and flow of traffic. Utilizing advanced IoT hardware, sensors routers, cellular technology, and sensors intelligent traffic systems are able to automatically adjust control mechanisms such as traffic lights, freeway on-ramp meters, bus rapid transit lanes, highway message boards, and even speed technologytraffic.com/ limits. They also can forecast changes in traffic demand and provide real-time information to road users.
An excellent example is the adaptive traffic signal system in Pittsburgh. When Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) professor Stephen Smith installed his first few experimental traffic signals in a highly congested part 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 before.
The system collects information from sensors that are monitoring the traffic coming in and then adjusting their timings in real-time, as well as spotting pedestrians at intersections and giving them enough time to safely traverse the street. Sensors send their raw data to a central hub, which is then 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 simulation of scenarios that reduce risks, which humans cannot achieve. And all of this is in real-time. This is a major step towards Vision Zero, the goal of safe road-driving where cars and human beings can travel together without colliding.