The coming convergence of how we communicate and how we travel is spawning technologies that will change how we get around -- and make transportation safer and more efficient, at the same time. The promise of vehicles communicating with each other and with the road, coupled with advancements in transportation infrastructure, has planners, technocrats and futurists creating an Intelligent Transportation System.
Unlike the future once envisioned in Disney's Magic Highway, which predicted a world of fog-eliminating machines and nuclear robots building highways, the ITS will work within a proven technological infrastructure that already exists. This future of transportation will be based around smart phones, mobile navigation systems and other common gadgets and will drastically change how we navigate and interact with cities.
The idea of ITS, at its most basic, is to connect every vehicle in a network of transportation users that instantly tracks and shares information. Ideally, everyone will be able to quickly determine where the accidents and tie-ups are and what routes can be taken to avoid them. What this means for the average commuter is quicker drive times by the way of more efficient traffic patterns and planned out routes created for you in real time.
Of course, transportation planners have been promising us this for the better part of two decades.
The history of ITS in the United States dates to the early 1990s. The government, through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, started funding ITS research and development to the tune of more than $100 million annually. Though forward thinking at the time, the level of funding has not grown at the same pace as in other countries, which is one reason the United States lags behind the likes of Singapore, China and Japan in implementing the technology. China, for example, spent $2.8 billion on ITS last year alone.
In order to understand ITS you can simply look at Radio Frequency Identification systems. RFID is a generic term to describe a system that recognizes and transmits the identity of a person or object using a unique serial number transmitted wirelessly. The technology already is used in such instances as the E-Z Pass and pet identification tags.
But put RFID chips on buses and subways, and the ramifications for mass transit are immense. If riders know in real time when the crosstown express will arrive, and get a text message update, they can plan trips more effectively. The tech would also allow transit planners to design systems more efficiently by knowing where and when users are entering and leaving the system. Transit operators in Chicago, Seattle and Pittsburgh already use instant messaging to alert riders using tools such as RouteShout. By outfitting buses with RFD connected to RouteShout riders could instantly be alerted of delays, detours and other issues.
Mobile navigation is changing the driving experience, when even a dirt-cheap car like the Honda Fit offers integrated systems. In addition to turn-by-turn directions and info on, say, the nearest coffee shop, some of these systems incorporate real-time traffic information to warn drivers of congestion and accidents. The problem is, these systems communicate with the driver but not with other vehicles or the road.
That will soon change.
Future navigation systems will be fully connected to the larger ITS transportation grid. Cars will be able to talk with one another to help avoid accidents and warn drivers of impending dangers from other vehicles before they happen.
When vehicles connect with a larger transportation network, you get the possibility of redirecting vehicles by creating alternate routes when traffic or crashes occur and potentially change the timing of signals to meet changing conditions. Commuters could be be given real-time updates and directions to less-congested roads, minimizing the time you spend idling in traffic.
Such connectivity also could make finding a parking spot less of a hassle. By utilizing ITS, drivers can pinpoint what spaces are open from their mobile phones and in car navigation. San Francisco is experimenting with the technology, installing sensors in 6,000 parking spaces so drivers can determine which ones are vacant.
Simply providing real-time traffic information could boost the economy, according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Deploying such a system would cost $1.2 billion, but it would deliver $30.2 billion in economic returns over 10 years in terms to mobility, safety and environmental savings.
This future is within our grasp. Large-scale research like IntelliDrive is being conducted by the United States Department of Transportation, and full-scale ITS moves toward reality. To reach this goal, the DOT has decreed in its 2010-2014 ITS Strategic Plan that the bulk of the annual spending be used for vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
Trouble is, we're still spending just $100 million a year on this. It clearly isn't enough, and it's a fraction of what's spent in other countries. Most of the money has been used solely for research, leaving implementation up to someone else. This needs to change.
Large-scale public projects like the Interstate Highway System were born of a need for the infrastructure and the political leadership to make it happen. The Obama administration has made transportation a top priority. It can bring our transportation infrastructure into the 21st century by increasing funding for ITS that connects technological advances in mobile networking with conventional infrastructure to create a more efficient transportation network.
Photo of Atlanta traffic at night: Flickr / ndot
