Smart traffic management to save cities $277 billion by 2025

Smart traffic management systems are forecast to save cities $277 billion, by reducing emissions and congestion globally by 2025, according to a study by Juniper Research. The study identified smart intersections as the key technology behind the savings; smart intersections can enable a reduction of over 33 hours spent in traffic per annum per motorist by 2025.

Smart intersections include areas of high traffic that leverage connectivity and AI-based automation to monitor and manage the flow of traffic based on real-time data, to reduce the time wasted to road congestion.

The report predicts that over 95% of the $277 billion in savings will be attributable to congestion reduction. North America and Europe are anticipated to make up over 75% of all savings, due to their increasing investment into smart traffic management and high vehicle usage in these regions.

The research posits that vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies are critical to the enhancement of existing smart traffic management services. V2X uses cellular connectivity to enable vehicles and smart traffic infrastructure to communicate information. The report predicts that V2X connectivity will enable smart traffic management platforms to gather data directly from vehicles, rather than relying on traditional traffic actuation methods.

Stakeholder collaboration could also enable the integration of various automotive services into smart traffic management, improving convenience for vehicles using smart parking services.

The report forecasts that investment in smart parking will reach $1 billion by 2025, rising from $460 million in 2021. It also predicts that smart parking vendors will focus on the connectivity between parking sensors, management platforms and end users.

The report urges vendors to focus on smart displays that provide relevant and up-to-date parking availability information in a safe manner.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/passsy