A 2.5km stretch of urban roadway in Melbourne, Australia, has been equipped with sensors, cloud-based AI, machine learning algorithms, predictive models and real time-data capture to improve traffic management – earning it the title of ‘world’s smartest’ traffic management.
The technology, which is aimed at easing congestion, improving road safety for cars, pedestrians and cyclists, and reducing emissions from clogged traffic, has been installed on the ‘Intelligent Corridor’ on Nicholson Street, Carlton, as a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, Austrian technology firm Kapsch TrafficCom and the Victorian Department of Transport.
Kapsch TraffiCom’s vice-president of connected vehicle services Steve Spouffske spoke about some of the technology involved in the corridor in a recent edition of the Transportation Podcast from TTi.
“Melbourne has faced an increasing volume of road users over the past few decades, leading to delays and an increasing number of accidents,” says Niloo Karimi, director of signal services with the Victorian Department of Transport, “Now, academic researchers, industry and government will draw on connected transport technology to explore better outcomes and solve issues of safety and congestion to create a safer, cleaner and smarter transport future for Melbourne.”
AIMES director and Professor of Transport Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Professor Majid Sarvi said the Intelligent Corridor will provide a model for cities around the world to reduce the costs of urban congestion. Urban congestion costs the Australian economy AUS$16.5 billion in travel delays every year, according to Infrastructure Australia’s Infrastructure Audit Report 2019.
“In Melbourne alone, 492 people lost their lives in crashes at urban intersections – with more than half of these being pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists – between 2006 and 2019. Our Intelligent Corridor will use the latest technology to better manage traffic and make our roads safer for everyone,” says Professor Sarvi.
The Intelligent Corridor will use global technology firm Kapsch TrafficCom’s corridor management platform EcoTrafiX.
TrafficCom Executive Vice-President for Asia Pacific, Matthew McLeish said: “From connected vehicles to autonomous driving to integrated mobility management, this technology is laying the groundwork for a sustainable and congestion-free future, utilising the very best in multi-modal demand management technologies such as the Kapsch EcoTrafix platform
Visit Kapsch TrafficCom at INTERTRAFFIC AMSTERDAM, booth 229, March 29 to April 1.
