Beating traffic jams with intelligent video technology

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“Quality of life in many cities around the world is being impacted by heavy traffic – both in terms of citizen mobility and air-pollution problems. To help combat these challenges, many cities are turning to intelligent video technologies that provide real-time insights to improve traffic flow and to maximise safety on urban roads.”

Across the world, many urban road networks are already saturated. This causes long delays for drivers, increasing frustration and reducing productivity. It also creates major public health risks due to poor air quality. Together, the effects of excessive traffic negatively impact city dwellers’ quality of life and the sustainability of cities. Effective traffic congestion solutions are thus essential for enhancing urban living conditions.

According to one study from INRIX, a leading provider of transport insights, Los Angeles commuters spent over 100 hours a year in traffic jams in 2017 – more than any other city in the world. Additionally, London traffic jams cost drivers the equivalent of £2,430 (USD$3,135) each, equal to more than £9.5 billion (USD$12.3 billion) across the city as a whole.

A major headache for city authorities

Needless to say, traffic becomes a headache for city administrators, particularly in cities where rapid urbanisation and economic growth have led to increased ownership of vehicles. Identifying effective traffic jam solutions is therefore a priority.

To find long-term solutions, city authorities are looking into the root causes of traffic congestion. In Hong Kong, the city’s Transport Advisory Committee published a report identifying the top-three causes of excessive traffic. These are: “too many vehicles on roads”, “illegal parking”, and “too much road works” – all factors that contribute heavily to traffic jams in cities worldwide.

How technology can help

In many cities, building new road capacity is not an option – either because of available space, disruption to economic activities, or budgetary constraints. In these circumstances, city authorities are beginning to look to smart technologies to make people’s journeys faster and safer.

In the portfolio of available traffic easing technologies, latest-generation video technology is the star. In particular, innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep learning have transformed standard video traffic monitoring with features that alert operators about traffic issues in real time. This allows them to take immediate action to keep lanes clear and to keep traffic flowing. Effective road traffic monitoring and urban congestion solutions are thus becoming indispensable.

Three solutions with intelligent video technology for traffic flow management

Next generation video solutions are already helping city authorities to reduce congestion and deliver major time savings for drivers. These examples are:

1) Traffic guidance

This kind of solution uses cameras installed at major intersections to monitor and report on real-time traffic flow. It works by constantly observing the flow of traffic lanes, and by counting vehicles within defined areas of the road. Data is then sent to traffic management control centres where operators can see the build-up of traffic across the city and take appropriate actions to speed up traffic flow. These traffic flow analytic solutions are integral to modern urban management.

This kind of solution can also display congestion information for drivers at each intersection, helping them predict their arrival time and – if delays are serious or persistent – to choose alternative routes or travel options.

2) Traffic signal control

Traffic signal control solutions allow traffic lights to be coordinated to keep traffic flowing as freely as possible. They consume traffic data from traffic guidance systems to understand where traffic is building up at an intersection. Then, they coordinate traffic lights to even out the traffic flow, reducing drivers’ frustration and eliminating the need for manual intervention by traffic police when traffic builds up in one direction. This form of traffic flow management ensures smoother and more efficient travel through busy urban areas.

3) Traffic enforcement

In many cases, traffic congestion is caused by illegal or irresponsible road use, including illegal parking and use of bus lanes. With intelligent video solutions such as traffic enforcement cameras equipped with wrong-way driving detection, illegal U-turns and illegal parking detection capabilities, these kinds of incidents can be identified automatically. This allows operators in traffic control centres to alert the authorities who can take action in real time to improve public safety and to hold drivers accountable.

A better future for congested cities

With urban traffic management now topping the agenda for most city authorities, intelligent video technology is a beacon of hope. By monitoring traffic in real time, these kinds of solutions allow city authorities to take immediate action to ease bottlenecks – reducing drivers’ frustration, reducing lost productivity and improving urban air quality. Additionally, real-time incident detection helps to improve overall driving standards, which ultimately reduces the number of accidents and saves lives. Effective road traffic monitoring is therefore key to creating sustainable urban environments.

To find out more about Hikvision intelligent traffic management with latest-generation video solutions, AI and deep learning, please contact us.

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