Just imagine the time you’d save if your commuting time was chopped in half, or more. The New Mexico Department of Transportation is looking at ways to quickly inform people traveling the roadways about everything from emerging weather patterns to traffic accidents, using smart car data and apps.
This is just a bunch of test-worthy ideas that have been put together by a few national traffic authorities for testing. However, this really got me thinking about the state of traffic control, particularly traffic jams, that exist all over this nation. It’s amazing that despite all the fast-emerging technology, we still can’t get a hold on traffic jams.
I live outside Toronto, Canada, and can’t believe the number of situations and daily hours-long holdups that occur in metropolitan centers of the 401 Highway, often referred to by nicknames like “Carnage Alley” and “Death Highway”. These frequent holdups never seem to let up despite the massive electronic warning billboards telling people what’s happening, lanes to avoid, etc.
I’m sure those of you who live outside North America have equal horror stories, like the 10+ day, 100km long traffic jam in Bejing, China back in 2013. Don’t get me started on the traffic in Sao Paulo, Brazil!
I really hope this pilot project gets some traction and finds a way to tap into smart data and ultimately getting some measure of control over traffic. Just imagining the fossil fuels we’re losing sitting in traffic is astounding.
Something has to happen.
