A delicately woven together network of processes, smart technology for traffic can help transport workers, drivers and commuters control traffic flow and efficiency. Intelligent traffic systems are able to adjust the controls of traffic lights and onramp meters for freeways as well as bus rapid transit lanes. They also employ advanced IoT routers and hardware, cellular technology and mobile networks. They can also forecast changes in traffic demand and provide real-time information for road users.
Pittsburgh's adaptive traffic signal system is a great example. When Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) professor Stephen Smith installed his first couple of traffic signals, which were merely experimental, in a highly congested part of the city's East Liberty, he saw immediate results: Drivers travelled 25 percent more efficiently and spent 40 percent less time in traffic jams than they had before.
The system works by collecting data from sensors that monitor the traffic coming in and then adjusting their timings in real-time in addition to spotting pedestrians at intersections and giving them the time to cross the street. The sensors send their raw data to a central center where it is processed by artificial Intelligence and then dispatched back out to the intersections via 5G-enabled https://technologytraffic.com/2022/07/25/start-using-a-virtual-data-room-today-to-save-time-money cell networks.
These systems can provide more precise and accurate modeling of scenarios that reduce risk, which human traffic managers are unable to attain. And all of this is in real-time. This is a major step towards Vision Zero, a goal of accident-free driving in which humans and vehicles share the road with no collisions.