By 2024, the smart transportation sector is expected to be worth $130 billion. There will be a 20 percent annual growth rate between 2018 and 2024. Smart transportation systems are gaining popularity around the world, despite the fact that their development is moving at a slow and steady rate. New modes of transportation are being welcomed in by factors such as rapid urbanization, ubiquitous connectivity, environmental protection, and traffic flow optimization. In order to achieve the smart cities of the future, residents and government officials alike are counting on the development of smart infrastructure to increase road and passenger safety.

Infrastructures capable of offering improved services to passengers and drivers for more coordinated and efficient transportation networks are referred to as smart transportation infrastructures (or smart infrastructures). New ways of getting around can be made possible by software-based infrastructures that make it easier to park, improve traffic flow, automate surveillance systems, and use less fuel. Digital technology is changing the way people travel in urban areas, as seen by the following examples of smart transportation systems.

Perks of Smart Cities and their Transportation Solutions

Enhanced security is one of the expected benefits of smart transportation solutions in the future smart cities’ infrastructures. Passengers benefit from real-time ticket management, smart parking, and traffic jam reduction when digital communication systems are integrated into city transportation infrastructure. Smart traffic monitoring is made possible by technology such as GPS and Internet of Things sensors, which lower the likelihood of accidents and, as a result, make it easier and safer to get to your destination. Some of the advantages of smart cities and their transportation technology are as follows:

Effective Traffic Management Systems in Smart Cities

Through push alerts, smart traffic management systems can shift traffic flows away from congested locations, giving motorists an accurate view of the current state of the city’s traffic in real-time. Automated ticket management is possible with chatbots.

High-Quality Results

Because of fuel-saving solutions that dispatch vehicles more rationally when the shortest possible path can be discovered with machine learning algorithms enabled by city traffic data acquired via GPS and street sensors, smart transportation can help to reduce carbon emissions.

Smart Cities Solutions Reduced Unnecessary Costs

Companies that deal with transportation, shipping, and passengers alike can save a lot of money by implementing traffic management systems that are capable of reducing unnecessary costs such as traffic congestion, fuel consumption, and empty miles. When telematics and communication technologies are widely adopted, smart city transportation has access to a wealth of data from a variety of sources, allowing it to operate more efficiently. Moving through smart cities is less expensive the more data road users can collect and evaluate on their journey.

Working Of Smart Traffic Control Systems in Smart Cities

Probably the most well-known issue in city transportation is traffic congestion caused by the poor operation of traffic light signals. It is impossible to classify traffic signals as “smart” if they operate using either timers or pedestrian buttons. It’s impossible for these low-tech gadgets to detect, monitor, and respond to the actual traffic situation on the road.

Using digital technologies like Bluetooth, LIDAR, and 5G mobile internet, smart traffic monitoring systems can, on the other hand, enable traffic lights to interact with vehicles and pedestrians. Vehicle electronics and pedestrian smartphones can be used to gather information about the traffic condition at any given crossroad, and this information can then be used to predict traffic patterns. A smart traffic light can help pedestrians and drivers react more quickly and be more aware of their surroundings by delivering appropriate signals to each other’s mobile devices.

Like autopilots in driverless cars, AI-based visual recognition systems can use city street cameras to predict traffic. A system like this can also assist in the prevention of jams and collisions that occur regularly at crossroads as a result of mistakes made by people on the road. These futuristic smart roadways can also measure traffic indications like exhaust gas concentrations, noise levels, pedestrian clusters, and collisions using sensors and network access points. There is a lot of useful information in this kind of data that can help people think about smart cities in terms of new ways of getting around.

Some of the Smart Cities’ Transportation Solutions

Examples of revolutionary digitized infrastructures that smart cities are using:

Smart Cities Solution of Dublin

Since 2015, Dublin City Council implemented the Mayflower CMS (central management system) that linked numerous smart city sensors and applications into the city’s transportation and lighting systems.

When connected to the Smart City Platform, the range of IoT sensors and detectors produces different data streams that keep city administration informed about anything from traffic noise to CO2 emissions to weather conditions to the energy consumption of street lights and even water level during floods.

When multiple applications are running on the Platform, the Mayflower network’s sensors can be monitored through a single interface. People may walk home safely at night, automobiles use less gasoline to reduce polluters, and urban real-estate developers can choose the best locations for new schools and hospitals, etc., because of the system’s focus on smart city security.

Smart Transportation in Barcelona

As one of Europe’s most technologically advanced smart cities, Barcelona boasts a supercomputing facility that integrates large data received from smart traffic sensors, autonomous vehicles, and linked autos, among other sources. With the help of Catalonia Living Lab and 5G technology, the city has implemented an intelligent traffic control system.

Data from numerous IoT devices (such as traffic light cameras and asphalt sensors) may now be analyzed in real-time using cutting-edge data analytics combined with the most recent 5G infrastructure. Barcelona is achieving remarkable accomplishments in the development of efficient urban mobility in the future when it comes to the evolving smart city infrastructure, which is geared for the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles.

Conclusion

Digital technology in the construction of intelligent transportation systems can result in safer urban settings free of time-consuming traffic congestion and harmful concentrations of exhaust fumes. There will be a new generation of smart roads when IoT devices and data-processing software are used to turn sensor signals into useful information about improving urban mobility.

The installation of intelligent traffic lights on city streets is a simple but effective way for local governments to make their communities a safer place to live. To name only a few already-available tools for the development of smart transportation systems: IoT sensors, 5G, Lidar, Bluetooth, and cloud computing. In fact, the future has arrived.

Also Read: Cybersecurity needs to think in Smart Cities

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