Autonomous vehicles (AVs) with all the technological wizardry have been getting the limelight in recent years. But, many of the same technologies applied to AVs are being deployed in vehicle traffic management industry.
According to ABI Research, that’s an indusrtry that is set for solid grwoth in the next few years, jumping to US$4.9 billion in 2026.
“Despite congestion levels reaching historical lows during COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, the need for effective urban traffic management ensuring smooth vehicle flow across city intersections is here to stay,” said Dominique Bonte, Vice President of End Markets and Verticals at ABI Research.
“However, the traffic management industry is facing transformational challenges in terms of monitoring the increasing complexity of road-based mobility and transport characterised by micro-mobility, autonomous last-mile delivery and freight, the extension into curbside management, and most importantly the expansion into people flow management,” he added.
Enable these new traffic management paradigms are technologies such as LiDAR sensors for granular 3D road and smart spaces intelligence, dynamic/mandatory routing algorithms; artificial intelligence (AI)-based edge compute enabling immediate, local, and automated response solutions such as (cooperative) adaptive traffic lights and pedestrian alerts, and V2X and 5G connectivity driving new traffic prioritisation services such as premium vehicle preemption for delivery and logistics providers.
The benefits of traffic monitoring, management, and modeling/simulation extend far beyond the primary traffic flow and safety objectives. They include operational efficiencies and support for urban planning, enabling more attractive transit and, ultimately, better sustainability by reducing emissions and air quality improvement. Investing in traffic management technology is becoming an integral part of a holistic urban asset management strategy for city governments.
Entelechy Asia 