Smart technologies for traffic are a delicately interwoven system of processes that aid transport personnel, drivers, and commuters manage the flow and efficiency of traffic. Intelligent traffic systems are able to 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 with cellular technology, as well as wireless networks. They can also forecast changes in traffic demand and provide in-real-time information to road users.

An excellent example is the traffic signal system that is adaptive in Pittsburgh. When Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) professor Stephen Smith installed his first few traffic signals for experimentation in the heavily congested technologytraffic.com/2020/05/01/modern-traffic-technologies-by-board-room/ area of the city’s East Liberty, he saw immediate results. Drivers drove 25 percent more efficiently and spent 40 percent less time in traffic jams than they had before.

The system is able to collect information from sensors that monitor the flow of traffic and adjust their timings on the fly. It also detects pedestrians near intersections and gives them enough time to cross the street safely. The sensors send their raw data to the central hub, where it is processed by artificial intelligence. The data is then transmitted back to the intersections using 5G-enabled cell networks.

These advanced systems permit better and more accurate modeling of scenarios that reduce the risk that human traffic managers are unable to 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.