Cities are using smart traffic technology to cut down on energy consumption and improve road safety as traffic congestion in urban areas is becoming more frequent. Apart from that, it assists in reducing time for drivers and passengers, lower emissions, and reduce traffic jams.
The technology behind it is based on software and hardware. The first is the executing subcomponent, while it is used as the command and control center. Both are enhanced with modern sensors and processing techniques technologytraffic.com/ for example, like ANPR (automotive plate recognition) which collects data about vehicles’ movements and can detect road signs.
Depending on the solution, smart traffic lights can process data on-devices or transfer the data to a cloud storage. The latter is more sophisticated analysis and modeling to prevent traffic congestion and coordinate public transport schedules. According to Carnegie Mellon University, this will cut travel time by 25 percent, wait times for signal signals are reduced by 40% and emissions are cut by 20%..
In addition to decreasing traffic signals’ control delays, a smart traffic light system will also enhance the flow of pedestrians as well as micromobility vehicles, such as electric scooters and e-bikes. This is due to the fact that they’re often not able to adhere to traditional traffic signal preemption rules. In London, for example, e-scooter crashes increased 2800% during the first half of 2021, and therefore it is crucial to factor them into traffic light controls.
