io9: traffic

Minority Traffic Report Detects Accidents Before They Happen

Ed Grabianowski — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:57:08 PST

Two miles ahead, a construction crew is closing down the right lane on a busy stretch of road. A truck stalled on the left shoulder is slowing down drivers who stop to look. In the minivan to your right, a distracted dad is paying more attention to his kids than to the road. Unfortunately, you are aware of none of these things. Wouldn't it be cool if a computer could analyze all that information and warn you of a high risk condition like this?

I-WAY is a project funded by the European Union that uses existing technology, much of it off-the-shelf, to detect, combine and analyze tons of information about traffic. Cameras spot back-ups, accidents and lane closings. Sensors within cars note speed and braking data. They can even detect unsafe driving behavior, such as frequent lane changes or excessive speed. On top of that, sensor packages inside cars monitor the driver's heart rate, steering wheel grip and eye position.

The key to all this data acquisition is a computer system that can analyze it all, take stock of the situation, and issue warnings in real-time. Drivers can use their awareness to drive more cautiously if a high risk is present. Highway officials could use the information to adjust lane closings or traffic lght patterns to remove some of the elements causing the risk.

I-WAY is still in the testing phase, but it was designed to use low-cost technology already proven to work. It just combines the technology in an innovative way. We could see this in use on certain highways in a few years. I can't wait until I get my first ticket for an unsafe lane change I didn't actually make yet. Image by: InfoMofo.

Preventing Traffic Accidents Before They Happen? [Science Daily]

A Twelve-Layer Freeway Clover for Los Angeles

Annalee Newitz — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:00:00 PDT

If you have too many cars on the freeway, the best thing to do is go vertical and build a skyscraper road system. Here is one possible way to do that, layering roads on top of each other until the traffic thins out. Perfect for Los Angeles, where it often takes three hours to cross town on the freeways. [Core Form-ula via Next Nature]

The Shape of Urban Traffic to Come

Annalee Newitz — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 07:00:02 PST

Most cities built before 1900 weren't designed with cars in mind, and traffic jams are often one of the results. As we move towards a future that is looking increasingly urban, we're likely to see more traffic scenes like this one, in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. We're also likely to see more traffic jams created by war zones, and by climate change. Want to see what those look like?

Here's a traffic jam created by checkpoints outside the city of Baghdad. And here is a great vision of future parking in a climate-changed British city.

Baghdad traffic at checkpoint by Jamesdale10.

Cars underwater in England by dubaddict.

Hyderabad traffic by Alex Graves.