TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Predicting Traffic Congestion May Prevent Roadway Accidents

Dave Greenfield | Date: 07-19-10 | Comments

Called �prediction feedback strategy,� a new system is being developed to help drivers avoid traffic, thereby saving time and making the roads safer.

Avoiding traffic is no longer a best-guess practice on your part. Scientists are developing an intelligent traffic system that can predict where there might be traffic based on real-time input. The technology in these groundbreaking new machines is being labeled �prediction feedback strategy� (PFS).

With PFS, university researchers have devised a way to predict future traffic conditions, thereby helping not only to get drivers to their destinations faster, but also to do so more safely.

Knowing what�s coming up ahead may help drivers make better choices and avoid accidents. The emerging PFS technology is not like the traffic monitors currently available that base their results on past traffic. Instead, the developing technology uses a multiroute system. By using a three-route system and current traffic data, the lag time of previous technologies are eliminated. Drivers can choose the safest route based on traffic flows and congestion predictions in real time.

The system relies on GPS data pinpointed from the position of individual cars on the road. This positioning information helps the driver predict traffic patterns through results displayed on a control board inside the car. The driver sees three route options available, along with car icons showing the traffic, and can select the one that is least congested.

It stands to reason that roads are safer when there are fewer drivers on them. So, knowing which route has the least cars on it would help lower accident rates. Scientists are still working out the problem of more drivers choosing the same alternate route, thereby causing traffic to slow down, but they�re confident they�ll be able to iron that out in the near future.