A delicately interwoven system of processes, smart technologies for traffic help transport personnel as well as commuters and drivers to control traffic flow and efficiency. Intelligent traffic systems can adjust the controls of traffic lights and freeway onramp meters as well as bus rapid transit lanes. They also use advanced IoT hardware and routers that use cellular technology as well as cell networks. They can also assist in forecasting shifts in traffic demand, and provide a range of real-time information to road users.

An excellent example is the traffic signal system that is adaptive in Pittsburgh. Stephen Smith, a professor at Carnegie Mellon technologytraffic.com/2020/05/21/the-benefits-of-using-modern-traffic-technologies-by-data-room University’s (CMU) constructed his first experimental traffic signals in the heavily congested part of East Liberty in the city. The immediate results were evident. Drivers traveled 25 percent further and spent 40 percent less time idling.

The system collects information from sensors that are monitoring the traffic flow and adjust their timing in real-time, as well as detecting pedestrians at intersections and giving them enough time to traverse the street. Sensors send their raw data into an centralized hub, which is then processed by artificial intelligence. It is then sent back to the intersections by 5G-enabled cell networks.

These systems are also able to enable better, more accurate simulation of risk-minimizing scenarios that a human traffic supervisor could not accomplish – and all in real-time. This is a significant step towards Vision Zero, a goal of a safe, accident-free road in which humans and vehicles share the road without collisions.