TOKYO: Traffic light signalling could one day be embedded with artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise traffic flow in cities.
A data-driven traffic management system should help optimise air quality, reduce energy consumption, and improve system capacity and resilience.
This is one of the potential benefits in a joint project by the Toyota Mobility Foundation and The Alan Turing Institute.
The project aims to transform the way cities are planned and managed. The objective of this new project, "Optimising flow within mobility systems with AI", part of the Turing's new AI programme, is to turn complex traffic management from static systems into dynamic, optimised systems that are managed in real-time.
Managing traffic and optimising traffic signals, both vehicular and pedestrian, within cities has long relied on traditional modelling and forecasting. Real-time events, changing conditions, and evolving mobility patterns mean existing systems can no longer keep pace and adapt to new needs in urban environments.
Thanks to cutting-edge data science techniques and by working with real-time data and communications, city planners now have new tools. This creates the potential to dramatically improve the way our cities are run.
Spanning 18 months, the new collaboration brings together researchers and software engineers with expertise across mathematics and data interaction, from the Turing and the Universities of Cambridge and Manchester, and mobility expertise from the Toyota Mobility Foundation. They will be working with data providers, and government managers underpinning future cities, as well as drawing upon expertise from the Turing and partner universities' ongoing work in the area with the Greater London Authority.
The UN predicts that by 2030, urban areas are projected to house 60% of the world's population. In addition to increasing population in metropolitan areas, cities themselves are changing. There is an increase in ride sharing platforms, changes in mode choices such as cycling, and same-day delivery fleets, dramatically affecting traffic patterns. While environmental standards are improving, congestion in urban environments needs to be managed to maintain our health in cities.
