IoT for Solving the Traffic Crisis

With a prolific rise in population and vehicle ownership, smart traffic management is becoming the need of the hour.

If you live in a metro city, the chances of facing a jammed street or highway are very high. Getting stuck in a traffic jam is something no one wants. A report found out that an average driver will spend nearly 32 hours in a year being stuck in traffic jams because of various reasons. Smart traffic management can be considered as one of the few solutions that can help in improving the current situation of traffic. While there are several other ways technology can help reduce traffic congestion's, using IoT for smart traffic management is a rising trend.

Smart traffic management with sensors

With sensors being installed on the roads and getting connected to traffic signals, sensors can perfectly help in managing traffic. For instance, if a sensor is installed on a crossroad, these devices can sense the flow of traffic. As these devices are connected to traffic signals, the direction from which there is an increased flow of traffic is coming can be sensed, and the same can be notified to the traffic signals. The smart signals can then decide how to stop or allow traffic on specific routes.

With these sensors being installed, the possibility of increased traffic decreases and accordingly the problem of congested roads is well handled. Smart sensors can also prove to be beneficial for pedestrians. They can sense the number of pedestrians waiting to cross the street at any given time, and can accordingly notify to change the traffic lights to allow the pedestrians to pass.

Smart traffic management with smart cameras

Cameras can be great add-on devices to sensors. These smart cameras can be attached to sensors for various purposes; one of them being to sense weather conditions and lane discipline. When a camera is connected to a sensor, together they can sense weather conditions and the same can be notified to drivers on the road via digital hoardings. These cameras can also be used to check for specific lane disciplines to be followed by drivers in their vicinity. When a driver disobeys the driving rules, the vehicle number can be detected by smart cameras, and the traffic department can track the driver down to follow up with consequences. These cameras can also sense over-speeding cars and a crash too can be notified to the traffic department.

Traffic concerns have been increasing in the last decade due to several reasons. With 70% of the world population going to reside in metro cities by 2050, the situation would only worsen without an effective and smart traffic management system. Organisations are developing sensors and cameras and several other things that can help in reducing the traffic concerns around the world.