Smart technologies for traffic are a delicately weaved network of processes that help transport workers, drivers, and commuters to manage the flow and efficiency of traffic. Intelligent traffic systems can alter the mechanisms that control traffic, like traffic lights, freeway onramp meters and bus rapid transit lanes. They also employ advanced IoT hardware and routers with cellular technology, as well as wireless networks. They can also assist in forecasting changes in traffic demand and offer a variety of real-time information to road users.

An excellent example is the adaptive traffic signal system in Pittsburgh. Stephen Smith, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU), installed his first traffic signals in the heavily trafficked area of East Liberty in the city. Smith saw immediate results. Drivers travelled 25 percent more efficiently and spent 40 percent less idling.

The system works by collecting data from sensors that track the flow of traffic and altering their timing on the fly in addition to identifying pedestrians near intersections, and giving them time to walk across 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 intelligent systems allow for more precise and accurate modeling of scenarios that reduce risk, which human traffic managers are unable technologytraffic.com to attain. And all of this is in real-time. This is a major step towards Vision Zero, a goal of a safe, accident-free road in which cars and human beings share the road without collisions.