As urban traffic congestion becomes a major challenge cities are turning to smart technologies for traffic to improve the safety of drivers and reduce wasted energy. This helps motorists and passengers save time, reduces emissions, and reduces traffic jams.
The technology behind this is based on two fundamental components: hardware and software. The former is the subcomponent that runs, and the second is the command and control centre. Both are complemented with advanced technology for sensing and processing for example, like ANPR (automotive plate recognition) which records data regarding vehicle movements and is able to investigate this site detect road signs.
Depending on the software utilized, data can be processed on device using intelligent traffic lights or transmitted to cloud. This is a way to perform more sophisticated modeling and analysis to reduce traffic congestion and harmonize public transport schedules. According to Carnegie Mellon University, this will cut travel time by 25 percent, and wait times for signals are reduced by 40% and emissions are reduced by 20%.
In addition to cutting down on the time it takes to control traffic signals A smart traffic light system can also improve the flow of pedestrians as well as micromobility vehicles like electric bikes and e-scooters. They’re not able to adhere to the traditional traffic law regarding preemption of signals. In London the e-scooter accident rate increased by 2800% in the first quarter of 2021. It is therefore important to include them in traffic light control.