A pilot program in Nevada has combined predictive analytics, in-vehicle and city data to enable traffic management and law enforcement agencies to identify where crashes are likely to occur and take proactive preventative measures before they happen.
Waycare, one of the leading providers of AI-driven mobility solutions for smart cities, has announced the results of its crash prevention pilot program with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC), Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP), and the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT). As a result of the initiative, Waycare reduced the number of primary crashes by 17% along a key corridor of Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, without requiring any additional resources from state or local agencies.
The company has been harnessing in-vehicle and city data, combined with predictive analytics, to provide traffic management and safety agencies with the ability to identify areas of roads at high risk for an incident, and to allocate preventative measures to those areas accordingly. During the Nevada program, 91% of drivers traveling at over 65mph (104km/h) reduced their speed to below 65mph in the area where preventative measures were deployed.
Founded in Israel and now with offices in California, Waycare works with municipalities across the USA and has recently partnered with Waze to share real-time traffic data and build a more complete picture of a city’s road conditions.
The company’s cloud-based platform analyzes traffic data in real time. When it identifies an area at high-risk for an incident, Waycare alerts traffic agencies when and where preventative action is required. For the Nevada pilot, the RTC uses Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) to deliver a preliminary warning, alerting drivers to reduce speed and drive cautiously. The NHP proactively positions its vehicles in high-visibility mode along the freeway in conjunction with NDOT, which ensures that safety barriers are in place for the police officers on freeways.
“Groundbreaking partnerships like this enable Southern Nevada to continue to lead the way in leveraging advanced technologies to dramatically improve traffic safety and efficiency,” said Tina Quigley, RTC general manager.
“These latest statistics, coupled with the fact that we are identifying accidents up to 12 minutes faster with the Waycare platform, helps translate what public and private partnerships can do and that AI is working to modernize and create a better transportation system for all.”
NHP Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Solow noted, “Traditionally, law enforcement has relied on anecdotal evidence to determine where to deploy resources to respond to traffic related issues. Now, with the technology that Waycare has brought to Southern Nevada, the Highway Patrol can proactively deploy units into an area when the system identifies a high likelihood of something happening and prevent crashes before they even happen.
“This translates into significantly faster treatment for those injured in crashes, quicker clearance and restoration of normal traffic flow, and untold millions of dollars in commerce-related delays that are prevented.”
Noam Maital, co-founder and CEO of Waycare, commented, “The results of this pilot program are a clear signal that AI and deep learning, when deployed in collaboration with traffic management and enforcement agencies, can have a dramatic impact on improving the safety of even our busiest and most at-risk freeways.”
