Smart technologies for traffic are a delicately integrated system of processes that aid transportation personnel, drivers and commuters control the flow and efficiency of traffic. Utilizing advanced IoT equipment, sensors routers, sensors and cellular technology smart traffic systems can automatically adjust control mechanisms such as traffic lights and freeway on-ramp meters bus rapid transit lanes, highway message boards, and even speed limits. They can also help forecast changes in traffic demand and provide a range of real-time information to road users.
A good example is the adaptive traffic signal system in Pittsburgh. Stephen Smith, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) constructed his first traffic signals in the heavily congestion-ridden area of East Liberty in the city. He saw immediate results. Drivers were able to travel 25 percent faster and spent 40 percent less time in traffic.
The system collects data from sensors that monitor incoming traffic and adjusting technologytraffic.com/ their timing on the fly in addition to identifying pedestrians near intersections, and giving them time to safely cross the street. The sensors then transmit their raw data to a central hub, where it is processed by artificial intelligence and then dispatched back out to the intersections via 5G-enabled cellular networks.
These systems can provide better and more accurate modeling of scenarios that minimize risks, which humans cannot do. And all this in real-time. This is a big step toward Vision Zero, a goal of a safe, accident-free road in which both vehicles and humans share the road without collisions.