The High-Tech Way to Less Traffic?

Feb. 13, 2005 — -- It's the holy grail of drivers and transportation officials: highways free of the traffic tie-ups that bring vehicles to a crawl or even a standstill for miles on end. But the prevalence of cheap and powerful computer and communication technology could finally be bringing that Utopian vision to reality -- or at least, into sharper focus.

Traffic researchers and automotive industry experts say most of the components needed to reduce traffic jams -- new digital communication systems, sensor-studded "smart roads," and space-based satellite navigation systems, to name a few -- are already contributing significantly.

It wasn't that long ago, for example, that the only tools available to help drivers navigate around jams were AM/FM radio broadcasts of local traffic news. And most drivers would have to figure out for themselves which alternate route to take to skirt the tie-up.

But David Shrier, an analyst for real-time traffic systems at ABI Research in Oyster Bay, N.Y., says roadway monitoring and reporting systems have become much more sophisticated in the digital age.

"At least 20 major metropolitan regions in the U.S. have roadways that are filled with automatic sensors to monitor traffic," says Shrier. "They use acoustic sensors that measure for engine and car noises. By timing how fast those sounds are generated, they can rapidly determine how much vehicular traffic is on the road."

Connected to other sensors, such as infrared detectors that can watch for road icing, these monitoring systems can develop a better picture of what's happening on local roads. All this digitally captured information can then be more easily passed to official highway monitoring stations and, ultimately, to drivers.

"The two key factors to real-time systems are that they are accurate and timely," says Shrier. "With [traditional] radio traffic news broadcasts, they're only delivered at certain times -- usually when you're already in the midst of the traffic jam."