In the last few years, traffic congestion has become a severe problem for people in cities. Streets and roads are facing long timings of traffic signal and accidents. A Smart Traffic Management System has an essential role to play in the management of urban traffic, particularly in the highly populated regions.
As per a survey conducted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, over 70 percent global population will move to metropolitan areas by 2040. With cities population growing at a rapid pace, managing traffic-jams is a key concern.
A traffic management application of Smart City Solutions can address the traffic issues majorly congestion at roads or on the streets by implementing the next-generation technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT).
Current Situation of City Traffic Management
In the current situation, traffic signal management is the major concern for the metropolitan cities. With the conventional technique, managing urban traffic or monitoring the flow of transportation is challenging. Apart from regular commuters to emergency vehicles like fire brigades and ambulances also face traffic jams as they do not get the free lane to meet services.
The existing traffic signal monitoring system is incompetent to manage heavy traffic on roads and streets. They are not automated and come across human errors. Improper architecture of signaling system and ignoring traffic rules are causing congestion. Malfunctioning of traffic management sources end up suing the wrong individual for rule violation. Traffic congestion lead to pollution and global warming impacting the city environment. Long waiting hours in traffic consumes more fuel is an expensive deal for commuters. Every government works towards traffic monitoring and managing networks. Construction of advanced road networks for free traffic flow has a direct impact on the economy.
How Smart Traffic Management is a Savior?
For this reason, urban cities need an automated system to monitor the vehicles movement at every signal or on the roads. A smart IoT based traffic monitoring system implements advanced algorithms to reduce heavy traffic flow by facilitating large chunk of vehicles to cross traffic signal easily.
Intelligent automated systems are slowly replacing traditional operational methods with the expansion in technology. A smart traffic management provides advantage by offering safe public transportation, punishments on violating traffic rules, and ticketing system automation. The advanced technology of IoT, AI, computer vision, machine learning, and Big Data are providing real-time solutions to the traffic congestions. Smart roads, highways, street lights, 3D vision cameras, and automated traffic signaling are part of a smart traffic management system. Experts are doing researches for offering better products for smart traffic management.
The Functioning of IoT-based Smart Traffic Signal Monitoring
IoT based smart traffic signal monitoring consist of multiple components including cameras, RFID readers, and wireless sensors are installed at the signals to observe the vehicles movement. The powerful data analytics includes GIS-enabled digital roadmap with traffic signals and control rooms for traffic monitoring.
A smart IoT based system capture the image of traffic at the cross-roads using digital image process technique. The system then shares data to the control room with the support of wireless sensors.
Besides this, the system also uses RFID tags and readers for vehicles tracking in order to control traffic congestion, trace a stolen vehicle or clear traffic. For this, emergency vehicles need to install RFID tags so that readers can track the location of vehicles in real-time. Thus, emergency vehicles can be given clear way.
Smart Traffic Control System
The drawback of a predefined time-based signaling system is that the traffic management system works irrespective of traffic flow. And the responsive smart traffic control systems act according to the real-time traffic conditions. Below are the key components –
1. Centralized control system
The central control system works as a foundation of a traffic control system. This application is integrated with signals, cameras, and waiting queue detectors. The AI-based application can analyze real-time information by collecting details from the computer enabled 3D AI cameras and queue detectors. The AI system pass optimized information to control the functioning of the traffic lights and signals.
2. Smart Signal Lights
Smart traffic lights and signals lower the inefficiencies in traffic congestion and idle time at road-intersections. The smart lights can manage the queue and clear the traffic irrespective of the predefined timing system.
3. Intelligent Cameras and Queue Systems
The cameras and queue system shares information with the control system regarding real-time traffic condition. And the control system enacts this real-time data to clear the overcrowding traffic and helps in pollution reduction.
Smart Traffic Monitoring System
1. Big Data and Intelligent Communication Systems
AI & IoT are integral parts of smart traffic management systems. The tech components defining the smart traffic monitoring system are traffic lights, public transportation, smart parking, smart roads, and geospatial traffic. These advanced systems replace conventional ticketing with automation by providing advanced assistance using IoT enabled communications. Services offered by integrating sensors, information systems, and vehicle tracking devices for tracing commuter location.
2. Smart Roads and Smart Highways
The roads and highways are integrated with sensors that monitor vehicle speed and guides the vehicle owners by sharing data to information systems regarding speed over limit, penalties, and other information related to traffic overhead. With Smart Fleet Management information can be accessed through an app regarding vacant parking lots at a specific location for better assistance.
3. Geospatial System
This system is a combination of GIS, GPS, and radiofrequency devices for smart traffic management. It offers 3D visualization of real-time geographical data depending on the position of a physical device. GPS is majorly used to detect the best routes to reach specific destinations within less time as per the traffic. The geospatial technology provide guidance related to possible upcoming obstacles, and traffic inflows from different routes and their queue length.
Benefits of Smart Traffic Management System
Some of the key benefits cities avail of by integrating these systems:
- Congestion Detection: With advanced cameras and IoT sensors located at every street & road it is easy to constantly monitor intersections, assigned authorities can monitor the entire city traffic management center.
- Adaptive Control: Congestion detection enables adaptive control, which causes dynamic adjustments to systems comprising traffic lights, on-ramp signaling, and bus lanes.
- Connected Vehicle: This advanced technology enables vehicles to communicate directly with the app for all sort of information. The Smart Traffic Management contain connected vehicle roadside unit for this job.
- Emergency Routing: A key advantage of the Smart Traffic Management System is the ability to provide traffic free route to police, fire and ambulance services.
- Pollution Control: Another important benefit of this smart traffic light system is that it offers city planners with accurate predictions of pollution and emission levels. Furthermore city vehicles achieve best fuel efficiency which was earlier missing.
- Real-time Traffic Updates: Smart traffic monitoring systems play a vital role in the transition of cities. Traffic sensors act like heart of city infrastructures, wherein wireless sensors measure traffic flow, predict congestion, and control traffic routes. This overall offers awareness that enables efficient use of resources as well as infrastructure. Identifying congestion is the very first step which is mostly done from images or videos captured by smart cameras. Based on the analysis, the traffic warning messages are broadcasted using smartphones, televisions, light signals, radio, or display units. Among them, the mobile apps are the most popular. Most of the developments in delivering real-time traffic updates implements the congestion estimates to thoroughly manage the traffic signal. With IoT technology implementation real-time traffic monitoring system is proposed for dynamic handling of traffic signals. The ultrasonic sensors are used to detect vehicles, and the data is sent to the server for later analysis. In addition to traffic signal lightings, the system raises alarms when identify any false vehicle activities.
These are the most crucial benefits of Smart Traffic Management System which makes city traffic congestion & pollution free.
The Future is Smart Parking
This innovative parking technique combines IoT, Machine learning, & AI technologies to report the presence of parking spaces in real-time. Information is gathered through different sensors positioned in parking lots to make a parking map that vehicle owners can use with their smartphones. Traffic officials leverage smart parking data to supervise traffic and identify parking violations.
Smart Parking has a vital role at its end in the smart city ecosystem, ease of convenience, lower costs, urban mobility, congestion, and practical information & intelligence delivery. Smart cities change the overall consumer’s experience and build expectations that shape the necessity for parking services. The growth of data services has led Smart Parking to enhance technology services to meet modern city needs.
Wrapping Up:
The smart traffic management system provide intelligent insights and solutions to city problems through modifications and tech integrations. AI & IoT technology is the prominent tool in every sector particularly intelligent traffic management system. If you find our blog post informative & helpful please share your thoughts with us.
Author Bio:
Chandan Kumar is working with a top-rated Digital Transformation Company as a senior research analyst. Having years of experience and expertise in mobile app development industry, you can avail latest information on latest technologies. Share your comments and feedback to improve our blog.
