Managing traffic is a complex process, and the traffic management industry is expected to reach a market value of $6.66 billion in the coming year. To improve traffic management, businesses and construction companies must consider new technologies’ value.
So, what is IoT, and why is it crucial to traffic management and road safety? Here we’ll look into IoT and why traffic management companies must adopt this new technology to improve operational efficiency.
What is IoT?
IoT is a term that refers to the ‘internet of things.’ The internet of things describes technology connected to a cloud-based control panel and stores critical data in a cloud-based location.
An excellent example of an IoT device is an intelligent HVAC system. An IoT HVAC system lets you control the temperature, view your daily energy usage and create schedules using a mobile app or browser-based control center.
We can see how IoT devices can improve home management and energy efficiency – but what do they mean for traffic management? In the rest of this guide, we will discuss what IoT can do for the traffic management industry, outlining why IoT is necessary for businesses.
IoT in the traffic management industry
Now that you’re familiar with IoT let’s explore the latest IoT developments in the traffic management industry.
Traffic cameras
Traffic security cameras are an essential element in road safety. They enable traffic management officers to stay in touch with the speed drivers travel, allowing them to spot accidents and poor road conditions. Consistent awareness of road conditions allows traffic management officers to create alerts for drivers and prevent accidents.
Without IoT, traffic officers can only monitor surveillance feed within a control room. By implementing IoT traffic cameras, officers can store surveillance data in the cloud, allowing them to access this data at any time, from anywhere. Increasing visibility ensures that traffic officers do not miss significant events when leaving their desks and attending to other duties.
In addition to allowing for remote visibility, IoT offers the potential for integration. Your traffic officers can apply video analytics to spot potential safety issues on the road. Video analytics software integrates with IoT surveillance systems to monitor the feed and create alerts for potential hazards.
The technology can spot obstructions, high-speed vehicles, crashes and other dangerous activities on the road. It will send your road safety team an immediate alert, allowing them to act quickly and prevent road users from becoming harmed.
Video analytics helps resolve one of the main obstacles for traffic management officers – the sheer scale of roads and their inability to keep eyes on every road simultaneously.
Even if your officers monitored your surveillance feed round the clock, they could only view some camera feeds simultaneously, which may prevent them from spotting hazards in time. By automating video monitoring, you can give your officers a chance to act quickly, save lives and avoid injury.
Traffic lights
When managing traffic lights, the weather is vital in preventing accidents and giving cars enough time to slow down. Traffic light sensors can help to educate traffic light brightness but are only sometimes effective.
By implementing IoT for traffic lights, traffic management officers can ensure the brightness and duration of traffic lights are always informed by current weather conditions. Using internet weather analysis and forecasts, IoT traffic lights are always in direct conjunction with the weather forecast to ensure maximum visibility and prevent accidents.
Road accident prevention
One of the essential aspects of road accident prevention is communicating effectively with drivers. By implementing IoT-connected road signage and devices, road traffic management officers can provide drivers with instant updates based on weather conditions, obstructions and other potential hazards on the road.
For instance, if there were an accident on the highway, a road accident prevention team could instantly update road signage to send out an alert of the accident and ensure drivers approach the site at a reasonable speed, with knowledge of the upcoming obstruction. IoT enables instant and effective responses in these scenarios.
Parking systems
Parking lot security is essential to traffic management and applies to private businesses and public parking facilities. To improve parking systems, businesses and traffic management companies can implement parking lot access control with license plate recognition. To ensure payment upon exit and to speed up the flow of traffic in and out of the facility, businesses can implement automated parking management with license plate recognition.
The user drives into the space, and the system will log their registration. When they leave, the system will use their registration to deduce the payment required, and they can use their contactless card or smartphone to pay. This technology reduces paper waste for ticket systems and provides a swifter, more convenient parking lot security.
Summary
IoT technologies pave the way toward a future with safer roads and more convenient road management. Many traffic management organizations are currently using these technologies to ensure maximum efficiency. When planning roads, consider whether IoT will provide the agility and safety required to handle road accidents and emergencies.
