Intelligent transportation systems try to apply information and communications technology to the roads and highways we already have in an effort to make better use of them. Drivers waste nearly an entire work week each year sitting in traffic on the way to and from their jobs, according to U.S. research released in 2007. (Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press)

Traffic is both an environmental and economic nightmare. Each minute a vehicle spends idling in a traffic jam needlessly produces extra emissions, and wastes the time of drivers and passengers. (Kevin Frayer/Canadian Press)

While some vehicles are technological marvels complete with onboard computers, GPS locators and automated parking systems, we have been very slow to use technology to solve the biggest problem that keeps us from fully enjoying cars: traffic.

Traffic is both an environmental and economic nightmare. Each minute a vehicle spends idling in a traffic jam needlessly produces extra emissions. It also results in wasted time that drivers and passengers could be using to do something — anything — more productive than sitting and waiting for the car to move.

The simplest way to reduce traffic congestion would be to build more roads. But now that many Canadian cities are already built up, "that's no longer a solution, because it's very expensive, creates more pollution and more noise," says Lina Kattan, who studies traffic at the University of Calgary.

"Now," she says, "the idea is to create more intelligent transportation systems to optimize what you already have."

Intelligent transportation systems try to apply information and communications technology to the roads and highways we already have in an effort to make better use of them — and make the driving experience a little more pleasant.

How much of a reduction in traffic congestion can you get using intelligent transportation systems?

It depends on many factors, and there are always unpredictable elements such as accidents that can take hours to clear. But according to Kattan, these systems make the traffic flow more reliable. "Instead of arriving 20 minute earlier for a meeting, you can have more precise estimates of when you are going to arrive at your destination."

Vehicle tracking

Humans typically take about three quarters of a second to slam on the brakes, often braking harder than necessary. This slight delay and miscalculation of speed, multiplied hundreds and sometimes thousands of times in a line of traffic, is enough to bring the flow to a standstill and cause traffic jams to appear out of nowhere. (Virginia Mayo/Associated Press)

Handheld GPS systems are becoming common navigation tools for people trying to get around in their cars. But these GPS units have limited usefulness as a technological traffic buster — at least for the time being, says Bruce Hellinga, who studies transportation systems at the University of Waterloo.

"In-vehicle navigations systems are really just an electronic map right now, they just tell you the shortest route based on the posted speed limits," he says. "It would be a lot more useful if those devices became aware of what the current traffic conditions are. Some of the devices available right now are capable of receiving that information, but most urban areas aren't capable of delivering it."

One idea is to use cellphones or other mobile communication devices to track vehicles and obtain localized travel times and vehicle speeds throughout a city. When that information is read in real time through a central computer, every vehicle would then become a telltale of traffic conditions, or, in other words, a "probe vehicle" in an intelligent transportation system.

Some cars already have tracking devices in them that can provide this information. But you don't necessarily need anything special installed in vehicles to set up such a system in a city, since theoretically any car can be tracked as long as someone inside is carrying a cellphone. There have been concerns that tracking vehicles infringes on privacy, but research has shown that it's possible to track vehicles while keeping the data anonymous.

Eventually, probe vehicles would allow those studying traffic to measure and manage it at a whole new level, while those driving in traffic could be better directed to clearer routes. And instead of just being electronic maps, those portable GPS devices could eventually calculate, in real time, the fastest route to your destination given the current driving conditions.

Hellinga has been working on various aspects of probe vehicles for years and has been involved with, among other things, a proof of concept test in Ottawa. The U.S. is also starting to test the technology, and Japan already has some systems in place. He thinks the technology is going to revolutionize transportation in the coming years.

"It's going to make an enormous change to the way we manage the infrastructure, the way we plan transportation and even the individual level," he says. "It's going to bring the transportation experience in line with the information age."

Automated Vehicles

Many science fiction films offer an optimistic view of the future, one without traffic where vehicles are able to drive themselves more efficiently than a human could. Amazingly enough, this type of futuristic driving experience is already possible with today's technology.

In fact, some of the necessary know-how has been available for years. Demo 97 was a test that ran in San Diego for several days in the summer of 1997. Using eight Buick Le Sabres, scientists showed that it was possible to have a platoon of automated vehicles travel so close together at highway speeds that they could reduce their aerodynamic drag by using the car in front of them as shielding, improving fuel economy. While the project was successful, the cost of implementing such technology across all existing highways and in all cars would be prohibitive.

Still, some pieces of it are starting to be offered piecemeal on high-end vehicles, such as an advanced cruise control that can automatically maintain safe spacing behind the car ahead of your. Another example is the automatic parking that Lexus shows off in its television commercials.

While some of the benefits of automated vehicles are obvious, such as being able to talk on your cellphone worry-free while driving, it could also greatly reduce traffic tie-ups says Baher Abdulhai, a traffic scientist at the University of Toronto.

"If you automate the driving process, you can double or triple the capacity of a driving lane," he says, because with automated drivers it’s possible to safely pack a lot more cars onto a roadway.

But Abdulhai also points out that there are issues that have to be dealt with before this type of technology goes mainstream. "I don't think we've gotten it in our heads about the liability or legal constraints — who pays for an accident if nobody is driving?"

But we don't necessarily have to go all the way to automated vehicles in order to use this type of technology to help reduce traffic congestion.

Humans typically take about three quarters of a second to slam on the brakes, often braking harder than necessary. This slight delay and miscalculation of speed, multiplied hundreds and sometimes thousands of times in a line of traffic, is enough to bring the flow to a standstill and cause traffic jams to appear out of nowhere. Some researchers are proposing that we use automatic cruise control technology to help people brake more efficiently. While this might not be able to stop all traffic jams, it could help rush hour flow more smoothly.

Traffic Psychology

One idea to help traffic flow better is to use cellphones or other mobile communication devices to track vehicles and obtain localized travel times and vehicle speeds throughout a city. When that information is read in real time through a central computer, every vehicle would then become a telltale of traffic conditions. (Richard Drew/Associated Press)

The idea that human actions, and not simply the number of cars on the road, are the cause of traffic tie-ups is where Lana Trick's work comes in. She is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Guelph who studies the brains (or often lack thereof) that control our cars.

Bad driving and accidents are a major cause of traffic problems, and part of Trick's work is to reduce or eliminate driver mistakes. This field evolved from studies of the behaviour of pilots, since one of the early mysteries of aviation was how such highly trained people could crash due to pilot error.

"Cars have certainly have become more complicated," Trick admits, "but this is taking more and more of the driving task away from the driver. It started with power steering, then anti-lock brakes, and then cruise control. And now they are considering having cars that warn you if you drift lanes. Do we want to have a car that monitors the driver?"

She asks that question because one of the unfortunate ironies of driving is that when you make it easier, you actually require the driver to be less and less engaged in the task and therefore more easily distracted.

Added to that, many cars now come with their own onboard entertainment systems, navigation systems, and other high-tech distractions. Trick points to something called the 15-second rule, a rule of thumb used by product designers to determine if something is dangerous to have in the car. "If it takes more than 15 seconds to, for instance, enter information into the device, then the driver will be too distracted to drive safely," she says.

One solution to improving our driving performance it to increase the complexity of the task itself so that we stay focused. This is the idea behind the European concept of shared space, which removes most, if not all, traffic signals and brings more activity to the roadway.

While you would think this might cause more accidents, research has shown the opposite. By increasing a driver’s perception of risk, you are causing them to actually pay much more attention to what they're doing and this causes fewer accidents.

Long-Term approach

Some of the technologies designed to reduce traffic are closer than others, and concepts such as shared space can only be implemented on a small scale. While some scientists concentrate on applying technology to deal with existing problems, others point out that there are more basic ways to fight traffic congestion that don't involve a high-tech fix.

The University of Calgary's Kattan, who uses computer modeling to help optimize Calgary's roadways, focuses on solving the immediate traffic problems. Cities, she feels, have to take a longer-term approach to their transportation systems.

"One of the very important solutions to transportation is to change the way cities are structured," she says. "Downtown Toronto makes use of land where we can work and live at the same time. But in the suburbs, we have to commute a long time to get to our destinations. So I think if we give our cities mixed-use environments where we can have residential and work environments together, we would solve a lot of our traffic problems."

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