One of the most persistent problems in major cities around the world, and the bane of urban motorists everywhere is the perennial traffic jam, especially during rush hours. The traditional response to traffic jams has been to build new roads, expand mass transit or institute congestion pricing. Smarter traffic systems radically alter this approach by utilising smart grid technology not only to provide live traffic information to monitor and manage traffic jams, but to successfully simulate traffic flow patterns ahead of time, and accordingly predict and prevent traffic james before they actually occur.
Ambitious projects of this sort are already being implemented by companies such as IBM, Siemens, TomTom or Blom. The prediction and prevention of bottlenecks, congestion and the annoying traffic jams before they occur can provide a great boost for every city, by saving energy, reducing emissions, shortening travel times, saving time for commuters, speeding up the response time of emergency vehicles and improving the overall quality of life for the city.
The entire article can be found in the Greenbang smart technology website, here.