Smart Technologies for Traffic

As congestion in the city is a major issue, cities are turning to the latest technologies for traffic management to increase road safety and reduce wasted energy. Among other things, this assists in reducing time for both drivers and passengers and reduces emissions. It also helps reduce traffic jams.

The technology behind it is built on both software and hardware. The former is the executing component, while the latter serves as the command and control center. Both are complemented with advanced technology for sensing and processing tools, for instance ANPR (automotive plate recognition) which collects data regarding vehicle movements and detects road signs.

Depending on the software utilized, data can be processed on device using smart traffic lights or sent to cloud. This allows for more sophisticated analysis and modeling to reduce traffic congestion and technologytraffic.com/2021/07/08/generated-post/ align the schedules of public transportation. According to Carnegie Mellon University, this can cut the average travel time by 25 percent, while signal wait times are reduced by 40% and emissions are reduced by 20%.

A well-designed traffic light system is not only able to reduce the delays of traffic signals and improving the flow of pedestrians and of micromobility vehicles like e-bikes or electric scooters. They are unable to adhere to traditional traffic signal preemption laws. In London for instance the number of crashes involving e-scooters increased by 2800% in the initial half of 2021. therefore it is essential to consider them when determining traffic light controls.